Tori and Jade's slay date
by Braxenimos
Summary: Slaying monsters was a comfortable life for Jade. It was perfect, as far as she was concerned, and there wasn't very many things that could ruin it for her. In fact, there was only one - Supernatural problems follow Tori Vega wherever she goes, and now she's found her way back to Jade West. -AU Jori-
1. Chapter 1

**Note:** _Okay. Even though this IS a Jori love story (Duh. I am the one writing it, after all), it's still a whole lot different from anything else I've written. Basically, just leave your brain at the door, sit back, relax, and enjoy the craziness to come._

**Enjoy**

* * *

_Scissor me Jaded_

The floor creaked beneath her foot, sending an immediate growl vibrating through her throat. The coffee cup held out in front of her nearly fell as she lost focus for a brief second. Tori Vega stopped just inside the threshold of the door and took a moment to calm her nerves, keeping her eyes on the coffee and taking a deep breath. She found herself growling deeper, longer and louder with each day that passed. The door closed behind her and she immediately felt a little trapped. It was a Saturday, and work was the last place she, or anyone she had ever met, wanted to be on a Saturday. It didn't help that she hated her job in the first place, but more notably, her boss.

She was trying her hardest not to crumble under the weight of her own frustration, but she was particularly aggravated this day and the coffee that she had tried so hard to keep in the air started to shake. Admitting defeat, she reached forward and grabbed the cup out of mid air, retracting it with a long sigh.

But, a little bit of pride joined with her current emotions. She was never actually that good at using her special gift, and how she ever got into a school for the supernaturally gifted she would never know, but today she managed to lift the coffee cup in front of her for a good five minutes. It hurt using her ability, giving her a migraine the moment she let go of whatever she was trying to move with her mind and up until recently, she had only ever achieved moving small object an inch or two across whatever surface they sat upon. This last year, however, she had gotten considerably better, even walking around with things held in front of her like she had begun to do with her boss' coffee on a regular basis.

Whoever told her that her gift was like a muscle, and that she would have to use it over and over again to strengthen it, apparently never decided to tell her that it would take so many years to make it only slightly better.

She finally started moving again and turned to her right, opening the stairwell door and taking the stairs all the way up to the seventh floor. It was the preferred workout in comparison to getting on a treadmill every day and since her boss decided to make her run multiple errands per day, it worked out nicely. The familiar burn flowed mildly through her leg muscles and it was easily one of her favorite parts of the day. She used to work her anger out after her old friend, Jade West, would frustrate her and found the solution to still hold similar results, even five years after she had seen the Gothic girl.

But never in all that time did she think she would find someone that aggravated her more.

Mr. Assot, or Ass hat as Tori liked to say behind his back, had her run to get his coffee two times a day, never failing to issue the order to his assistant at the same exact times. And today was no different, aside from the fact that it was a Saturday and she had never been called in to work on a Saturday. He also made sure that she knew to bring the coffee on her way to work this day, surprisingly changing his routine, and that they had special things to talk about. Tori knew what he wanted. He was hoping to get laid and was far too obvious about it, always watching her intently as she walked away and licking his lips at the sight of her backside.

Tori wasn't even quite sure what it was that her boss did for a living, something with bonds, or stocks, or something, but whatever it was, she knew that he had never come in on a Saturday to do it. So she was angry. Not that someone was eyeing her so intently in a sexual manner, but because she wanted to keep her job. She couldn't imagine keeping it after she rejected the poor, old, fat man. Because there was no way in hell that she was going to sleep with him. Not even if it meant getting fired.

He was a troll, a goblin, or anything else out of a Lord of the Rings movie that she could think of; disgusting, huge, and preying on the weak. She could just picture it in her mind. Gigantic, ugly, slimy, stupid and angry. It fit the man's personality perfectly.

The seventh floor door was finally reached and she opened it, turning the corner and coming face to face with the very thing she was just thinking about. Not her boss, no, a monster. But it wasn't as big as she had been imagining it. It was actually quite small, standing next to and sniffing the copier. The large machine was actually taller than it was and for a second, a very brief one, it actually looked kind of cute to Tori. But then she smelled it and glanced downward, catching a glimpse of something that revealed the thing as a male and its ugliness came crashing back. She exhaled a gagging breath and ducked behind the corner she had come from.

She slowly peaked around with wide eyes, scared that the beast might have noticed her. It stood at no more than four feet tall with short stubby limbs, green skin, and a seemingly mashed in face. One jagged tooth protruded out from what Tori figured to be it's mouth and saliva dripped almost fluently from the gaps made by the tooth. Shredded cloth hung from it in various places, barely managing to hide its dark, green skin.

And it was covered in blood. A lot of blood.

Either something, or someone, had been harmed by this thing and Tori immediately decided that she didn't want to be next. Though she was quite calm about the situation, knowing that things like this were actually possible and did happen. Most of the world wasn't privy to the supernatural world hidden beneath but for a select few, such as Tori and everyone else who had attended Hollywood Arts, they knew the truth.

And it also wasn't the first time weird or unexplainable things happened around her. Like the time her friend Cat made them go and pay respects to a dead woman, who arose as a ghost upon their arrival. Or when her other friend Robbie's puppet actually did come to life and the only person who wasn't shocked was Robbie himself, believing the thing to have been alive the whole time. And even April fool's day, when the most random and impossible things happened for no apparent reason and no one seemed to even notice, as if it were a dream that's strangeness only became apparent upon waking up.

So, calmly, she started to take steps back towards the stairwell. But her damned conscious got in the way. With a silent curse, she closed her eyes tight and hesitated. She hated Mr. Ass hat, yes, but that didn't mean she wanted the man to die. And it could even be his blood that was coating the monster at the copy machine. If he was wounded then he would need help, pervy jerk or not. She was turned around and peering back around that corner again within seconds.

It hit the machine, apparently deciding that it hated the thing and was happily amazed at the crushing noise it made. So the thing struck harder and continued to do so as Tori pulled out her phone, taking advantage of its distraction.

Being in the loop when it comes to all things supernatural, Tori had learned that there were people to call that would take care of these types of situations. Monster hunters of sorts. She pulled out her phone and dialed 911, not knowing what else to do, and simply hoped there was some sort of secretive way that calls such as hers would be heard and dealt with.

The operator's voice was gone the moment Tori uttered the word "monster".

Instead, another voice came onto the line just as Tori took another good look at the thing with a hatred for copy makers. The female voice sighed before asking in an obviously practiced and professionally bored voice, "Scissor me Jaded, what's the problem?"

There was a twinge of familiarity in the voice and Tori found herself narrowing her eyes and at a momentary loss for words. "Wait, Jade?" she finally whispered, watching as the monster stopped what it was doing.

And then it grew, at least an inch or two.

"Vega?"

It was her. Tori's once frenemie, Jade west, was the person at the other end of the line. Five years after high school and this was how they come in contact with each other again. Tori almost smiled at the coincidence.

And the thing grew even bigger, it's muscles popping into fearsome shapes. Tori finally noticed it's growth, nearly a foot this time as it stood a good bit over five feet tall, matching her own height. Somehow it was getting bigger, and Tori's fear increased.

"Um," She gulped before whispering her response back into the phone. "Yeah, hi. Look, there's a big, green ugly thing at the office where I work and it's covered in blood. Oh, and angry. Did I mention it's angry?" She finished her increasingly fear filled rant with a nervous laugh.

Tori could hear the snicker at the other end of the line. "So it's the Hulk then?"

"Damn it, Jade! I'm not messing around." Tori's anger got the better of her and she nearly yelled, barely keeping her voice at a harsh whisper. "Apparently you're someone who deals with this stuff. So come deal with it!"

There was a pause, giving Tori enough time to realize that she had cursed at Jade. Which would definitely be a surprise since she had never cursed in front of the girl before. But five years can change a person.

"Well," Jade finally started. "Seeing as though you asked so aggressively, I'll be right there."

Tori sighed in happy relief. And the thing grew another foot.

"It's getting bigger!" She said, trying to hurry the conversation along. "The address is-"

"Yeah, I know where you are."

Tori recovered from the interruption and found herself getting angry again. "What? How?"

Jade laughed her favorite evil laugh, which had gotten considerably more sinister, Tori noticed. "You can't be in the monster slaying business without a few tricks, Vega. Now be good little bait sandwich and distract Mr. Hulk until I get there."

She hung up with another sinister laugh. Tori had to fight off another growl as she pocketed her phone.

The office was a wide one, and there were plenty of cubicles and things that she could hide behind as she tried to make her way to her boss' office. The thing, Bob, as she decided to think of it as, had luckily stopped growing. It sat down with a plop and grabbed at the crushed and scattered pieces of what was formerly the copier and started to play with them, like a child. It made dumb noises and even tried lazily fitting them back together, probably so that it could smash it all over again.

It's head turned in the direct opposite direction of Tori and she took her chance. Ass hat's office was on the direct opposite side from where she had first seen the beast, with it directly in between at the copier against the wall. She bolted away from her corner as light footed as possible and found cover behind the first cubicle. She transferred along a few more of the miniature offices before a piece of the machine smashed into the wall a few feet from her and a loud and angry roar came from Bob.

He had failed at piecing his toy back together, apparently.

Tori froze. She hoped and preyed that it hadn't noticed her. She remained behind her current cubicle for what seemed like forever before slowly peeking around to see if it was aware of her. It wasn't. She continued her journey across and around the office, finding that it seemed far larger than she remembered it being. Finally reaching the closest cubicle to Ass hat's office, she took a final deep breath and made a bolt for the office.

Her decision to go back for the man was instantly made clear to have been a mistake.

Blood. It was everywhere. She stood frozen in the doorway with wide eyes. All over the walls there was blood, with small chunks of some sort of flesh scattered about as if something had exploded. She almost puked again, and took involuntary steps backwards, right out into the open again. She couldn't help it, the smell was horrible. And she gagged, louder than she intended to, but she still gagged.

Yet again, she froze. This time more horrified than when she had stepped into the bloody room. She turned her head slowly upon hearing a deep, guttural growl. Bob was looking right at her. It turned, placing it's full frontal body in her view, and roared long and loud.

Whatever clothes that had been on the thing when she had first seen it was even less now, but shreds still remained, most notably a tie. A black tie that hung tightly around Bob's neck. Mr. Assot always wore a black tie, Tori remembered. In her fear induced stupor she also noticed a watch. It was a gold watch. One of those that is obviously fake but made to look somewhat like a high end expensive one. Just like her boss always wore.

It hit her like the Hulk. This _was_ her boss. Bob was officially an Ass hat.

Tori felt like her breathing had stopped. She stared ahead to Bob hat, just as Bob hat stared menacingly at her. Everything around the beast in front of her went black and all she could see was it. She didn't move, didn't dare to, and unlike her, the six foot thing in front of her breathed heavy and fast.

It was waiting for her to move as if it were some sort of challenge. A stand off of sorts.

She couldn't remember ever being as scared was she as now. Sure, she had seen some crazy stuff in her life, but never had a literal monster with obvious anger issues stood in front of her. Not just that, but the damn thing was her boss, she was sure. Did it remember her? And if it did, did it want to do something a whole lot worse with her body other than beat it to death?

No. Tori wouldn't let that happen. Screw fear. Jade would be here soon and she specialized in killing these things, right? All Tori had to do was wait for her former friend to show up.

Thinking about Jade distracted her for a moment, and when her fear began to change to confidence, her vision cleared. Something was floating to her side. An office chair, she noticed, and when Bob hat's own eyes glanced to the object, Tori reacted. It was instinctual, somehow finding her fight mode activated and stronger than ever. The chair flew forward like a bullet and smashed into the thing's face.

But Tori ran as fast as she could to her right the moment the chair started moving, choosing to ignore however the hell she had found the power to do that in the first place, as well as the ache in her brain that her ability had caused, and focused on surviving instead. She ran along the same path she had taken to reach Assot's office in the first place. There were plenty of walls, desks, and chairs to slow the monster down and it seemed to work.

Bob hat had roared an ear splitting roar when the chair hit, flinging it to the side like it was nothing. While the small, fragile female thing in front of him had stared, daring him to charge, he grew even bigger. His strength grew ever more along with his height and size and he did just that; he charged. He went straight for the puny thing, tearing apart and throwing aside all objects in his path. But there were many of them and a few managed to trip and stumble him, giving the small girl more time to run and escape from his instinctual bone crunching.

For a moment, Tori didn't think she would make it. The thing came close to grabbing her once, but she narrowly dodged him as he fumbled over a cubicle wall that was now shorter than him. He had somehow grown again without her noticing, standing easily above eight feet high. But his size in comparison to the confined office was to her advantage and she reached the stairwell within seconds. Momentary relief washed over Tori and she allowed herself to slow a bit as she neared the bottom of the first staircase.

It was her second mistake of the day.

The seventh floor door exploded behind her, shooting down the stairs and she barely escaped it by bounding around the corner and down the next staircase. She could hear Bob hat crashing, roaring, and even falling down each flight of stairs that she had already escaped down, once again finding it's own size to work against itself in the narrow hallways. A good distance was put between the two and she reached the bottom floor, flying out of the doorway and into the main lobby of the building.

The morning sun glared through the glass entry way. She had to squint for a moment as she slid lightly across the floor after trying to stop her flight. A black van pulled up into the nearly empty parking lot outside and Tori immediately registered who it belonged to.

The "Scissor me Jaded" sign in very large font across the side gave it away rather easily.

And again, she made another mistake. She took a momentary breath of relief, believing that things were somehow better all of the sudden. But then the door she exited from exploded, and out came a ten foot hulking mass of a monster straight at her. He had grown further, apparently.

Jade stopped her van after seeing Tori Vega run out of a doorway inside the building, choosing not to keep driving like she had actually thought about doing. Her vehicle was completely black, aside from the red lettering across it's sides, and she was clad in just as much black. She casually took a drag from her cigarette before lazily throwing it outside of her open window with her "I got this" attitude. Her desired persona of bona fide badass was coming across well and you could practically hear the hardcore beginning sounds of Chimaira's "Pure Hatred" as she opened the driver's side door and stepped out. But that was just because it was playing far too loudly from her stereo, of course.

Both of Jade's black boots made it onto the pavement when a loud crash was heard and Tori was bursting through the building's glass front doors into the cold weather and screaming, "Help me! Help me! Help me! Help me! Help me!"

The tanned half-Latina was just as beautiful as Jade remembered. She made it halfway across the lot to Jade before something huge was crashing through the same glass that Tori had come through, roaring and far angrier than Jade had imagined when she was on the phone with Tori earlier. Jade's smirk from witnessing Tori in distress fell in an instant and she immediately went into business mode.

Using her own ability, Jade's hand glowed a bright, yet dark, purple and something materialized in the hand. It was a bat. A Plain wooden bat. Tori would have taken the time to question Jade's item of choice had she not been running for her life towards the girl. Jade began taking long strides in Tori and the beast's direction, lifting the bat just as Tori passed by. A symbol, or a rune of some sort, Tori thought, was made apparent to her just at the end of the bat as she ran by and she knew what Jade was doing.

Tori suddenly made a sharp right turn, knowing full well that a vehicle was ahead of her and that a monster would be crashing towards her after the bat hit it. After all, an object imbued with a rune of the right type could be extremely powerful, as the girl's and all of their classmates had learned in high school. This one was more than likely imbued with the strength of thousands of bats, or some crap like that.

But just before Jade swung the bat; just before it could collide with the thing's leg and shatter it, only to have it slide face first into Jade's vehicle, the bat went limp. As she brought it swinging towards it's knee it turned to some sort of flexible rubber and simply slapped pathetically.

Bob hat ran past Jade a few feet and stopped so that it could turn to Tori, and Jade just stared at the bat in her hand.

"Seriously?" Tori yelled, continuing to run away. "You're still having that issue after five years!"

In truth, Jade hadn't experienced such a fault with her own ability in years; five years, to be exact. She took pride in how good she had gotten with it, finding herself able to store multiple small objects at a time in some unknown pocket of space, that she called the Void, and pull them out whenever she felt like. The Void was a tricky place and it had taken her years to perfect it and actually manage to pull things out of the crazy place still in tact. So she decided to re-store the bat and then pull it back out again, hoping that it would come out right the next time around, determined to prove to little Miss Vega that she could do it.

But, putting things into the Void made a hell of a lot brighter light than storing it did, and Bob hat noticed. The monstrous thing stopped it's chase for Tori and turned to look directly at wherever the bright and shiny had come from.

"Oh shit." Jade mumbled just as the bat rematerialized in her hand.

Tori had made it a good distance away from Jade and so had the big ugly green thing. There was no way that Jade could casually hit it like a badass as it ran by this time, so she sent her mind to work to try and find a quick solution to the dilemma like she had done so many times before in a tight spot. Her smirk returned as she looked down at the bat. She lifted it over and behind her head, hiking her leg up like a pitcher would do and she threw it, hurling it through the air straight for the monster's head.

Bob hat slammed his hand against a car in his roaring rage as he ran by, probably his own, if Tori took the time to think about it. Just after he passed it, the bat collided.

It definitely worked this time.

It was the second time that something had struck him in the face this day and the former Mr. Ass hat wasn't happy about it. Especially since this thing happened to hurt like hell. It made a loud bang of a noise, somewhere along the lines of what it might sound like if superman had punched him in the face, and he went stumbling backward and to the side. Tripping over the car, he fell behind it with an unflattering yelp.

Tori began circling back towards Jade right as the girl had thrown the bat. "Seriously?" she yelled again. "I know that was powerful, but why not a gun?" She reached Jade in a few seconds and Bob hat was either unconscious or extremely dazed. "I'm sure you've got plenty stored in that purple place of yours."

"I can't kill it." Jade responded, eyeing the beast intently as she began to walk towards it.

"What? Why not?"

"Because this thing is special or something, I don't know. I have my orders, so shut it."

Jade was obviously upset that she couldn't blow the thing's head off, but apparently she liked keeping her job.

But Tori was persistent and stubborn, as always. "Well, how do you know it's special? It's a big ugly thing that was trying to kill me. Bob hat is a freaking monster. Shouldn't you kill monsters?"

"Look, Vega." Jade began after a growl, closing in on the bat that she had thrown. "I need to contain this thing before it's conscious again, so will you please shut the fu-…" Jade stopped, narrowed her brow and turned to face Tori. "Wait, did you say Bob hat?" She then bent town to pick up the bat at her feet.

"No."

"Right. Whatever. Just shut up, okay?"

With a huff and a crossing of her arms, Tori shut up and stood in place. After she said "okay", though.

Jade sighed in agitation and began to turn back to Bob hat, as Tori had called it, and actually made it a few feet, but both girls quickly found that Tori had made yet another mistake. If only she hadn't decided to keep using that big mouth of hers as a distraction.

The monster stirred, only to lift up with a groggy moan right after. Jade had underestimated the thing, having knocked everything else she had ever encountered unconscious for hours with that bat.

She blamed Tori.

Suddenly, the car was thrown out of the way and Bob hat was bounding towards Jade again, eager for revenge. Jade lifted her bat but it was far too close. It was on her in seconds. She had barely gotten the bat to a good swinging distance behind her when a hulking fist came rocketing towards her. But she found herself being flung to the side by some unknown force at incredible speed, the bat returning to it's home in the Void instantly as she lost focus.

Bob hat was confused. One second the puny girl was in front of him, ready to get smashed into bloody bits like any good thing should and the next, she was sliding across the pavement to the side.

Tori went to her knees just as the ten foot tall beast reared back with a dumb sounding confused noise. She grabbed at her head, clutching it in immense pain from using her power so effectively to move Jade out of the way.

Jade ignored the whiplash and the pain that sliding across the pavement caused her and she bolted up immediately at the first chance she could. The big thing in front of her was as stupid as it looked as it bent forward and waved a hand at the spot that Jade had been before she had vanished. For some reason, seeing Tori in such pain only served to fuel her anger and she closed the few feet of distance between her and her prey in a few seconds. The bat came back to reality, materializing in her hand as she reached the monster, slamming it as hard as she could into his head just as it noticed her.

Bones cracked and blood spewed. Jade had caved in the side of the thing's face and even sent him sliding across the ground, far across the parking lot and nearly out of sight. It officially had no head.

"God damn it, I killed it!" she yelled. "Now I'm not getting paid!"

"Can you stop yelling, please? It doesn't help my head situation over here." Tori added.

"Fuck!"

"Still not helping!"

Jade growled a long and deep growl before walking over to Tori and plopping down next to her with an exhausted sigh. "Whatever. Captures are never worth that much anyway. At least I got to see it's head pop like a watermelon."

Tori rubbed at her temple with the palm of her hand and scoffed. "Still as twisted as ever I see."

But Jade just ignored Tori. "And where the hell is my assistant? If she had actually been on time for once, maybe I wouldn't be sitting here next to you with no money to show for it."

"Who is your-"

Before Tori could finish asking the question, a blur of red flashed in front of her eyes and then suddenly Cat Valentine was standing in front of both girls. She had her big, stupid, and adorable smile on her face that Tori remembered.

"Oh, hey, Tori!" The red head said.

Tori gave up, groaning at yet another strange encounter and just accepted it without question. Cat was Jade's comic relief of a sidekick. Of course, it made perfect sense. With another defeated and completely exhausted groan, Tori let herself fall backwards onto the pavement without a word.

Jade just stared in anger at the perky red haired girl, giving her the most powerful death glare that she could.

"What?" Cat finally asked. "Did I miss something?"

* * *

_I plan on making every chapter quite long, maybe not as long as this one, however, but... long. So was this good? Awesome? Big bag of crap? Was Bob hat a stupid character... thing? I shall like to know these things!_


	2. Chapter 2

_Home_

Tori's head was pounding. Somehow, her headache had gotten significantly worse after leaving Jade and Cat to do what they did. And the exhaustion that came from using her gift didn't help her situation either.

Jade had rambled off multiple curses, mostly at Cat for being late, and managed to make a call somewhere between her foul words. Once she had informed whoever was at the other end of the line that a body was in need of being disposed of, Tori decided that she really didn't want to be there anymore. With a quick and sincere thank you, Tori headed home without another word.

She would usually turn her own music up to a considerable level and sing along to the latest popular pop song, but chose not to cause her brain further pain with the noise. And, it would only serve to agitate her further anyway. There was a time when she had imagined becoming a singer herself, possibly an actress as well, but had found that a fleeting dream once she was engulfed in the world of the supernatural. She had accepted that her preferred life would never happen, but still found herself in quite the depression when she looked at her life in reality compared to the life in her fantasies, especially now that she was out of a job with her boss dead.

She felt sorry for the man, but found it hard to focus on mourning the loss of anything at the moment.

Having her jobless reality finally hit her as she parked at her apartment complex, Tori let her head drop heavily onto the steering wheel with a growl. It was another mistake among a long list that she had made this day and the pain seared through her skull. Her growl quickly turned into a whine of pain and her eyes even began to tear up. Not completely at the pain, but because she was slumping back into another depression. She sat in the car for a while with her head resting on the steering wheel, finding the stillness and silence of it somewhat soothing enough to relieve a bit of the pain.

After what was nearly twenty minutes, she climbed out of her small, yellow vehicle and huffed. The journey up to her apartment was a long one as Tori sluggishly made her way up the stairs, which was interestingly enough, another seven flights of them. It was yet another means to working out that she usually cherished, but not in her current mood. All she wanted to do was take the elevator; the one that had been broken since before she had moved in some four and half months prior.

Her choice of places to live was fairly limited with the amount pay that she got.

Somewhere along her thousand year journey up the stairs she decided not to dwell on the fact that she wouldn't even be able to pay the rent anymore, let alone anything else she needed. Instead, she let her mind drift to nowhere and focused on trying to ignore the pain in her head. She finally reached her door and unlocked it, opening it up into a small, single person living place. The kitchen was melded as one to the living room and the only other two rooms were the bathroom and bedroom, leaving the laundry to be done elsewhere.

Tori closed the door behind her and immediately headed for her room. All of the lights were still off and she made no movement to change them otherwise as she stepped into her room, eyeing the bed. She had found sleep to be a good enough cure for headaches and even though she had woken up some two hours earlier, she felt exhausted enough to find sleep rather easily if she tried. But there was a particular pain-in-her-ass of a problem sitting at the end of her bed.

Her Cuddle me Cathy doll was sitting straight up with it's feet dangling over the side of the mattress, staring in her direction.

"Iggy." Tori stated in a low voice, followed by a sigh. "Off." She reached the doll just as it was about to speak, but it found itself violently cut off as Tori swung her arm and threw it to the side as she crawled into her bed.

A very masculine voice boomed from the stuffed toy as it said, "How many times have I told you not to do that, girl!"

Tori began her response by grabbing a pillow and tightly covering her head with it. Her voice was muffled, but she couldn't have cared in the slightest. "Shut up, Iggy. Not today, please."

There was no immediate response from the doll and Tori figured that she had finally gotten through to the little demon. She fell asleep to the repetitive feeling of her covers being lightly tugged on as Iggy tried his hardest to climb up the bedding to sit on it again. After many minutes of trying, and a whole lot of prior practice, he finally managed to climb up. It would have been a sight that Tori would deem adorable had she not already fallen asleep.

Iggy stood up at the foot of the bed, just next to Tori's feet, and placed what passed as his hands on his hips. "That is time number seven thousand and three that you have called me Iggy! And your punishment shall be that many times as severe once I am released from this God forsaken prison!" Ignorant to the fact that the person he was speaking to was already unconscious, the little thing continued his pointless rant. "I am Igvar the Destroyer! And you will regret your foolish insults upon me in due time!"

Tori shifted in her slumber, extending her feet for more comfort and she knocked Iggy off again the moment he was done speaking.

Igvar had informed Tori of his true name each and every time she had used the nickname that she had given him, but she never cared to use it. It was far more fun to torment the little bastard. Put simply, Iggy was a ghost. He was the product of a spell gone wrong when Tori and her group of friends had gathered at her house years ago to try and purge whatever spirit they thought was in Robbie's puppet at the time. Something had obviously gone wrong when Rex remained an inconsiderate dick and Tori's doll popped up with a life of its own. Somehow, they had trapped a ghost; a spirit of someone long dead. They gave up trying to purge Robbie's puppet after that, especially after all of the horrible and disgusting things that Iggy told them he had done in his day, scared that they might summon another ghost.

Apparently, Iggy had been some great conqueror or something like that. Tori could never remember, or care, but certainly found it funny that the man had been reduced to the confines of a female doll, complete with pigtails and a dress. Tori had even glued two tiny horns to his head to try and represent his devilish personality. It just made him seem even cuter.

Iggy shifted around as hard as he could to try and stand back up after being knocked off of the bed again and made many unflattering grunts of effort while doing so. Once he was upright again, he pointed his stub of an arm upwards towards the bed and yelled, "Why are you even home so early, anyway? Girl? Girl!"

But Tori was already in a deep slumber. She had never been able to use her ability to the extent that she had when facing the big, green ugly thing and found that she never wanted to again. Just hovering a cup of coffee in front of her for a few minutes was enough to cause a mild migraine. So, throwing a chair and a whole person slammed her pretty hard. It had also exhausted her, as if it took every ounce of energy she had to accomplish such levels of power. She would more than likely forget even walking into her own apartment upon waking up, she was so tired.

When she finally did wake up, her room was significantly brighter. The sun was high in the sky, telling her that she had been asleep for a few hours and it shone brightly through her window's open curtains. She sat up, tried her hardest to keep her eyes to stay open and realized that the pain in her head had diminished significantly, though not completely. Tightly closing one eye and opening the other as far as she could, she looked to the open curtains. Her head drooped after seeing the reason for them being open and she sighed, climbing out of bed just after.

"Iggy," she began as she walked towards her door in pursuit of the bathroom. "What are you doing at the window?"

Iggy's tiny head was leaned back as he pressed against the window to look up at something. "There's a person on the roof of the building across the street."

"That's great. I'm taking a shower."

Tori had her pants dropped and shirt off before she even reached the bathroom. She left the clothes wherever they fell and did the same with her underwear once she was safely within the privacy of the room's closed door.

She had learned to ignore most of what her living doll said after more than five years of insults and bravado filled rants about how fearsome he is. And even though he spoke so highly of how much he despised Tori, she could never could get rid of him. Wherever she moved, he did the same; always there pestering, insulting and completely annoying the living hell out of her. Sometimes he made her life seemingly unbearable, but he was her doll. A doll she had kept since she was a little girl and the thought of him not being there just felt wrong. After so long of misunderstanding Robbie and his relationship to Rex, she finally got it.

That doesn't mean she didn't ignore ninety percent of what Iggy said, though, of course.

So, standing under the pelting streams of water in the shower, Tori finally let the events of her short day flood her mind. She almost struck tears thinking about the death of Mr. Assot. Not because he was to be missed, but the thought of anyone being killed unsettled her. And the fact that she might have somehow caused such a death, imagining him the way she found him just before she rounded that corner, didn't help her situation either. But there was no way she could have actually caused that, right? Either way, that thought plagued her throughout most of the shower.

And then there was Jade. Still as malicious as Tori remembered, and yet, that same feeling that had always made her want the pale girl to like her bubbled up the moment she heard her voice again. All she ever wanted was for the girl to acknowledge that they were friends, but it never came. Instead, Jade had even made it a point to come and tell Tori how happy she was that she was finally leaving town five years ago, never to aggravate her again.

Tori would be lying if she said that still didn't upset her to this day.

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted as Iggy's voice yelled out with a shrill, high pitched scream. Tori quickly exited the shower, having never heard such a sound come from him before and grabbed the towel she had folded neatly on the toilet. It was wrapped around her wet, naked body in a matter of seconds before she exited the bathroom and headed back to her room.

Iggy was running around in a circle with a small portion of his left arm on fire. As Tori looked to the wall near the window at the source of the fire, Iggy flopped around and waved his arm frantically, finally snuffing the flame. But his arm was the least of their problems. Up against the wall Tori looked towards, the flames were in the shape of four letters. The fire was quickly growing out of control and quickly began to misshapen it's original letter formation. But Tori had seen what it said.

She had no idea what it meant, but for some reason it read: _Marz_

Tori snapped her head down in Iggy's direction and glared. "What in the hell happened, Iggy?" she yelled.

Iggy was repeating an "ow" noise over and over again and hopping up and down like the pain was unbearable. Tori never understood how he even felt pain, but he did somehow. "I told you there was someone up on that roof, girl! And then suddenly they were gone and I was ON FIRE!"

Iggy waved his arm around as if it would somehow burst back into flame if he didn't before stopping suddenly and looking back to Tori. "And stop calling me Iggy! That's time number seven thousand and five!"

"There are bigger issues right now,_ Iggy_!"

**-S-**

Tori knocked on Jade's door some many hours after the fire, holding a lone, large garbage bag in her right hand as Iggy sat atop her left shoulder. Her hair was still disheveled, having completely ignored it after running scared out of her flaming home and simply not caring enough to bother with it after. Jade's place was only four stories up in the building she lived and, strangely, there weren't even that many other apartments on that particular floor. The door finally opened and Tori expected to see Jade herself, but she was wrong.

A smiling face attached to a girl about Tori's age and height looked back at her. The girl had fiery, straight, shoulder length red hair and an extremely toned and fit body. That, and her high cheekbones and pretty face were enough to make Tori immediately jealous.

"Hi," the girl said, extending her arm out to Tori. "You must be Tori."

Taken aback by the unexpected person, Tori just mumbled an, "Um." She shook her head to clear it of it's dumbfounded state and quickly went to work trying to shake the girl's hand. She had to drop the garbage bag, as the redhead was apparently right handed, and finally grasped her hand in her own. Tori didn't even think people still shook hands upon meeting but, whatever floats another girl's boat, she thought.

"Yeah, that's me."

"Well," the other girl began. "Come in."

Smiling her friendly smile reserved only for strangers, Tori ducked past the beautiful girl, grabbing her bag, and into what was supposed to be where Jade lived. She was immediately in awe. The place was huge, complete with a living area nearly twice the size of hers and a kitchen that could swallow her own. All of the walls were black in the areas that Tori could see and the television was just as proportionately gigantic to the size of the room it resided in. Apparently, killing monsters had its perks.

Tori's head moved in the direction of the strange girl, her eyes slowly trailing from the sight in front of her to the redhead. "This _is_ where Jade lives, right?"

"Sure is." came the girl's response. Her voice simply radiated positive energy and even Tori couldn't help but feel at least slightly uplifted upon hearing her words in combination with seeing her angelic smile. "My name is-"

But, someone behind Tori on the other side of the room decided to cut the mystery girl off. "Ah, Vega." Tori snapped around to see Jade leaning against a door frame with folded arms and a devilish smirk. "I see Angel decided to go ahead and let you in."

"Stop calling me Angel, please. It's not my name, Jade." The girl's voice was still as calm and soothing as ever, even when agitated by Jade West.

Iggy was suddenly standing up on Tori's shoulder and turning himself around to face the owner of that angelic voice. "You have that problem, too?"

It was said in unison, both Jade and Tori snapping immediately. "Shut up, Iggy."

"Yes, I do have that problem too." Angel, as Jade called her, took the steps necessary to be next to Tori and scratched playfully at Iggy's stomach. "Aren't you a cute little guy!"

After witnessing the fit of giggles come from Iggy, and a blush strike his cheeks when she was done, Angel looked to Tori. "My name is Desiree. Ignore the things that Miss West decides to call me on a daily basis."

"Would you prefer I go back to Sparky?"

"Oh, heavens no. That one was just," Desiree the sparky angel paused for a second, taking the time to feign a shiver of disgust. "Atrocious."

Tori was unbelievably confused. Not only had she received three different names for this inhumanly beautiful girl, but Iggy had let someone tickle and cause him to giggle without threatening to sever their head once he was back in his body. Not to mention that red had actually appeared on his cheeks; something Tori didn't even know was possible.

"Wait, why Sparky?" she finally asked.

"Well," Jade began, lifting off of the wall and walking sultrily towards the rest of the people in the room. "Her hair is like fire and she sparks all kinds of naughty feelings within me."

"Oh, okay. I gotcha." Slowly, but like a ton of bricks, the realization of what Jade had said struck her. "Wait, what? You're gay now?"

Desiree took the lead first, cutting Jade off before she could speak this time around. "See, told you it was an atrocious nickname."

"Oh, I've always liked girls, Vega. You were just around most of the time when I was with Beck."

Quickly growing more and more uncomfortable with each passing second, Tori laughed nervously. "Oh, so… She's your girlfriend then?"

"Hah! She wishes." Desiree answered for Jade again. She laughed a hardy laugh and stepped back until she was leaned against the back of Jade's oversized, black leather couch.

Iggy decided to be subtle about his intentions and jumped eagerly off of Tori's shoulder, landing on said couch and then maneuvering as close to Desiree without actually touching her as he could and sat down.

Jade tried opening her mouth to speak again, but found herself growling instead when Desiree's voice spoke again. "Speaking of confusing things. Jade here told me 'Chick named Tori is coming by later' but she ever told me why. That was literally all she said before she started staring at my chest. And call me Des, please."

"Somehow, I convinced Jade to let me stay here a day or two because my apartment burned down." Tori said.

But, Iggy had to add his own input. "In like, a fire."

Iggy's tiny head was bent backwards to stare up at Des, and she twisted to the side to look down at him. "Yes it was. You see that's usually how things burn down, sweety."

She was like a mother nursing a child and what passed for a smile was apparent on Iggy's face, but when he finally turned to look away from the angel, a confused expression struck and his smile fell. Tori took notice in this look, crossing her arms and tilting her head at the living doll's odd behavior.

"You're an Angel in Training, aren't you?" She asked.

And finally, Desiree growled. "Not you, too! We hate being called that. We're not actually angel's you know."

No, they were just part of a holy organization, the same one that essentially turned monster slaying into a business and specialized in ridding the world of any and all dark things that lurked in the shadows. It's true name was kept a secret, but it was commonly referred to as The Angel Barracks. Every "Angel in Training", as the rest of the supernatural community referred to them as, was female and born to one of many holy families said to have angelic heritage. Angels or not, they were definitely a step above your average human.

And almost every single male had an unnatural attraction to them; which, also seemed to apply to ghosts, as well.

Tori almost immediately lit up in a smile. Her head snapped to Jade and she took a few feet of approach in her direction. "What in the hell did you do to get her assigned to you?"

"Nothing." Jade answered. But Desiree cast a disappointed look her way and Jade sighed. "Apparently, wherever my abilities come from is not the most positive of places. The Barracks seems to think that I could be an issue because of it, so they assigned Miss Perfect over here to watch over me. I have to let her stay here or I'm fired."

"If it makes you feel better, I don't think you're evil," Desiree chimed in, scratching the top of Iggy's head at the same time. "Just a certain B word."

And then Jade was laughing, easily proving that she was worthy of being called that B word. "Well, at least we know they don't think I'm too much of a threat, seeing as though they sent you here for your first job and all." She snapped her eyes back to Tori and folded her arms with a victorious grin. "Sparky is fresh out of training, barely a month."

"Well," Tori turned on her heel, back towards Desiree, and her mood was finally uplifted from its recent downward spiral. "It's nice to meet you, Des."

"Somehow, I just knew the two of you would get along." Jade rolled her eyes and closed even more of the gap between her and Tori before continuing. "And you've got the couch, Vega. Your new friend set up shop in the second bedroom already."

"Oh, she can have it. I actually like this couch, anyway." Without surprise, the ever virtuous Desiree was there to help out another. "And I'm assuming what's in the garbage bag is all you could salvage of your clothes?"

Tori sighed, letting depression begin to take hold once more. "Yeah. This bag and Iggy is all I've got left now. And my crappy car that could die at any moment. Yippy."

"Well, you and I are about the same size. So, you can borrow anything of mine that you would like."

Tori replied with a simple smile, blush, and tilted down head.

"Christ, can we stop with all of the happy rainbow crap?" And, without surprise either, the ever negative Jade was there to put a hamper on the mood.

Tori let the bag fall to the floor and cast a displeased eye at Jade, who simply arched an eyebrow and looked her up and down, not even bothering with stealth as they lingered on each of Tori's curves.

"So, wanna go have sex?" Jade asked out of nowhere.

Tori's expression instantly morphed into that of her most confused face yet. "Excuse me?"

"What? Des over here refuses to sleep with me because of some purity crap and I'm quite horny right now."

"No!" Tori inched in closer to Jade, leaning forward and lowering her voice in embarrassment. "No, I'm not going to sleep with you, Jade. And why would you even want to? You hate me, remember?"

"Just because I don't like someone doesn't mean I can't sleep with them. And you're still pretty hot."

"Well, I'm not like that. Besides, I have a date with someone tomorrow."

Jade's eyes wondered in the air for a moment before coming back down to Tori. "So? That's tomorrow. My bedroom is right there." She lifted a thumb and planted it towards the room that she had come from. "You'll get laid so much quicker with just a few steps instead of having to wait until tomorrow."

But Tori just stared. Her eyes were narrow and they searched for any hint of a joke in Jade's face. They didn't find one. "What happened to you, Jade? I mean, you weren't the most pleasant of people before, but now you seem… empty or something."

"Wow. You mean there was a better version of her before this?" Desiree added herself back into the conversation, sitting up from the couch as Iggy fell off trying to stay with her.

Once on the ground, Iggy stood up and inserted himself as well. "No, she was always horrible. Quite gruesome, too. Quite the potential in that one." By the time he was done speaking he was already next to Desiree's feet.

They all ignored Iggy, but Jade never answered. Instead, her eyes went dark and her vision hit the ground off to the side. She turned and went to her room, shutting the door without another word.

"Does she do that a lot?" Tori asked.

Desiree nodded, some form of pity engulfing her face. "Only when you ask her about the past."

* * *

**Note:** _Not nearly as actiony as the first chapter, but It's needed. Hope you guys still like it._


	3. Chapter 3

_A Date with a side of Slay_

Tori stepped out of her temporarily assigned bedroom, wearing her temporarily assigned pink, baggy and halo covered pajamas and yawned. It was nearly ten in the morning and yet, she still felt like many more hours were needed to get a decent enough rest. It had easily been two A.M. before she had fallen asleep due mostly to the stressful events of the previous day weighing heavily on her mind all night. It also didn't help that she could hear Jade's loud screams through the wall.

Apparently, the pale monster slaying beauty really enjoyed a hardcore, long lasting and brutal game of Call of Duty. She also enjoyed yelling at the television with the classiest choice of words, whether she was winning or losing.

Tori's eyes found the couch sitting barely ten feet away and her head tilted sideways. Desiree was laying across it, lifted up at an angle with her back resting on the couches' arm, and a very happy Iggy was bouncing on her chest. She played with the living doll by plucking at his arms, tickling him and tossing him around as she pleased, much like a child wishes to play with every pet they've ever had. But, Tori could only assume that the so called "great conqueror" was smiling so hugely and giggling because he was bouncing on what was essentially an Angel's breasts. Only slightly larger than Tori's, they managed to give Iggy a good enough soft bounce to make him one of the happiest things in existence.

"Mornin' Tori!" Desiree said, finally noticing Tori standing in the doorway of her former room with a lost expression.

Tori tried matching the smile on Desiree's face, but only achieved a small and uncomfortable one. "Hey."

Suddenly, Desiree was sitting up and twisting around to sit normally on what was now her bed, patting the cushion next to her as Iggy stared menacingly at Tori for ruining his euphoric moment.

With a scratch of an arm and another yawn, Tori took the angelic girl up on her offer and walked over to the couch to sit down next to her. "What's up?" she asked once she was seated comfortably.

Iggy found a grounded spot to stand in on Desiree's lap and reached upwards towards his precious breasts but huffed in anger once the girl batted him away.

"Well," Desiree started. "I just wanted to ask you how you're doing. You know, with everything that happened yesterday. It seems to really have gotten to you."

Tori searched the girl's expression and found nothing but genuine care, and a wave of comfort easily washed over her the longer she looked at that face. "It's just… It's not only what happened yesterday. My life isn't exactly going the way I always planned for it to. It's pretty much going in the opposite direction, in fact."  
Iggy worked his way up the arm of the couch after a few failed attempts and began to eye his eventual prizes again, trying to concoct a plan to get to them.

"At least you have a roof over your head and someone who cares enough about you to take you in for a while." Of course, Desiree would always look at the positive side to everything.

"I guess you're right." Tori's head dipped in the direction of her lap, where her hands twiddled with each other. "I just set my dreams too high. But," And with a laugh, she was twisting her head back to the girl next to her. "I'm sorry but you don't know Jade if you think she actually cares about me."

"Well, it's been five years, Tori. Maybe you just don't know Jade like you used to. I mean, you do realize that she's letting you live with her, right? Why else would she do that?"

Tori couldn't answer that. She was instantly at a loss for words as her mind began an attempt at wrapping itself around that fact. But, before she could even formulate a response, a third female voice chimed in.

"Isn't it obvious?" Jade strutted away from her door in pursuit of the kitchen, looking just as tired as Tori. "I wanted to bone her. I figure it'll happen eventually." She finished her statement upon reaching the kitchen and immediately went to work making coffee, her upper body visible through the giant hole of a window between the two rooms.

"Seriously? That's the only reason you wanted me to-"

"Hold it there, Vega." Jade interrupted, placing her hands firmly on the counter in front of her and lifting lazy eyes at the two girls on the couch. "Just 'cause I spoke to you doesn't mean I want to engage in a conversation. Not before I've had my coffee."

The very familiar anger arose in Tori and she twisted her body to better face the venom tongued girl in the kitchen. "Technically you were just adding to the conversa-"

But, she was cut off again.

"I don't care about your words!"

With a huff and a folding of her arms, Tori returned to her original position. She shook her head before noticing Desiree's giggles. "What?"

"Nothing," the redhead defended with. "That was just cute is all."

"How was that-" But, yet again, something halted Tori in mid-sentence.

Iggly leapt up to Desiree's shoulder with an "Aha!" and quickly slid down the girl's front, trying his hardest to stay up by gripping at her soft, braless chest through her shirt. And Tori's laugh was harsher than the one received from Desiree just moments prior.

"Did I mention he really likes boobs?" she said.

After ripping the light as a feather being off of her, placing him in-between Tori and her, Desiree replied sarcastically with, "Ya think?"

Iggy huffed again, making sure to add a loud and distinctive growl. The two girls on the couch just laughed at him.

A few minutes later, Jade was finally coming out of the kitchen. She stopped midway between it and her room, stopping to turn a curious and malicious head towards Tori. "You should probably be getting ready, Vega. Don't want to be late for that precious date of yours."

Tori matched every bit of facial maliciousness and directed it towards Jade. "I'm probably not even going to go on it. I'm just not really feeling up to it. Besides, shouldn't that make you happy, seeing me unhappy?"

"Oh, come on. You don't want to disappoint the sap now do you? Besides, how else are you going to get laid? You've already refused the best offer there is."

"She's right, you know." Desiree's luminescent voice rang out again, and Tori was already leaning towards going on the date before she continued speaking again. "She said it in the completely wrong way but, this could be good for you. Who knows, maybe this guy will be amazing and change your life for the better."

Although, Tori did already know the guy, and him turning out to somehow be amazing and better than the version of him she already knew was quite the stretch. But, as was everything Desiree said, it made perfect sense and seemed a fine idea. A small smile began its spread across Tori's face as she nodded and a momentary wave of selfishness washed over her and she looked back in Jade's direction, hoping to see the girl angry at her failed attempt to get under Tori's skin. But the seemingly badass Goth was already gone, shutting herself in her room.

"But," Desiree decided to add. "I wouldn't mention to him that you got jealous of your new roommate when you thought she already had a girlfriend."

**-S-**

"Do you really have to insist on being here?"

Jade and Tori walked briskly down the sidewalk of a popular shopping street, consisting largely of clothing stores and coffee suppliers. They were headed towards one small building in particular that served smaller choices of food than a restaurant, but just enough to be qualified as a meal to go along with your coffee if you so wished.

"Yes," Jade replied to Tori, crossed arms, holding her own coffee in one hand and with power in her walk. "If I had to drive you, then I'd like to see this disaster happen."

"You didn't have to drive me! You insisted on that, too!" Tori all but yelled, only receiving the briefest of glances from random passersby.

The girls were fast approaching the little, mostly outdoor seated shop. The moment they had stepped out of the massive black van, Jade adopted her "I just don't give a fuck" expression, as she would say, and prepared herself for the annoying and nearly headache inducing gripes from Tori Vega.

"And I've already told you why. You're going with me to the Barrack's hub to explain how the other night was all your fault." she said.

"And I've already told_ you_ that it wasn't my fault! You're the one that destroyed the thing's face!"

"Yeah, you're welcome for that."

An even louder, rage filled growl boomed from Tori and she let her head slam back in frustration. "You're impossible, you know that?"

Not looking ahead of her, Tori's shoulder hit a soft body and she stopped. They had arrived at their intended destination and Jade had stopped walking, more than likely just so Tori would run into her.

"So," Jade began, completely disregarding their previous conversation. "Which poor bastard is it?"

They stood just outside of the moderately sized outdoor seating area, finding there to be multiple people sitting by their lonesome. Tori remained extremely close to Jade, almost touching shoulders, as she always seemed to do, and lifted her head in search of her date. It didn't take long for her to spot him and she was walking around Jade in an instant.

With a quick point of an arm and a glance back at Jade, Tori responded with, "That one."

Jade followed Tori a few moments later. She wouldn't admit it, but she truly was curious as to who it was that sought Tori's affections. Though, she was sure that there were many people who would kill to be with a girl that looked like her. But, this one was different. This one had actually managed to earn a date with the beautiful, brown haired half-Latina.

It was unexpected. The guy wasn't the most good looking of people, though not ugly by any means. Jade just figured that someone with the looks of Tori Vega would score a date with someone less pudgy, bearded and with obviously unkempt hair that was failing to remain hidden behind a black baseball cap. And then it hit her. Tori was probably too nice for her own good and simply couldn't turn down the big, scruffy guy.

Tori suddenly stopped before reaching him and turned around quickly. She let Jade nearly run into her this time, before leaning closely into her and speaking in a low voice. "Please don't be mean. And could you at least sit at a different table?"

"Whatever," Jade replied. "Now get out of my face."

Jade had taken the lead, determined to get the first impression in and gave a faint wave, smiling a seductive smile at the man as she sat down at a nearby table within earshot and just watched. Beard-o, as Jade decided his nickname would be, smiled back in surprise and she knew she had succeeded. She wasn't being mean. She wasn't sitting at the same table. But, neither of those things meant that she couldn't make him extremely uncomfortable and confused. So Jade sat with legs crossed, facing him with a devious grin.

Tori sighed, rolled her eyes and shook her head. And for the life of her, she couldn't figure out why on earth she wanted so badly to be Jade's friend.

There were already two cups of coffee sitting on the table when the girls reached it and Tori, in her increasingly nervous state, chose that as an emergency conversation starter when nothing else came to mind. "Oh, you remembered."

"Yup." His smile lit up upon speaking to Tori. "We did agree to buy the other person's drink depending on who got here first, after all."

Jade snickered. Stupid men, she thought. Why would anyone ever agree to that? Of course Tori was going to arrive after he did. Although, Jade did find Tori's deception to add to whatever amount of arousal the girl gave her when she thought about her.

Tori's eyes flicked around and she laughed nervously. "Well, yeah. Of course. Thanks, Reid."

Another snicker and Jade was taking note of Tori's angrily adorable nostril flaring. Tori had completely forgot the details of their meeting and apparently, everyone else was oblivious to that but Jade. But, at least she knew the guy's name was Reid now.

Tori sat down and Reid sent another glance towards Jade. "So, who's that?" He asked.

"Her?" Tori sighed in Jade's direction, refusing to lock eyes with the girl. "She's, uh, just my roommate. And she had to drive me, so…"

"Gotcha'"

After two minutes of silence and awkward smiles, Reid was speaking up again. "Oh, hey. Did you hear that they finally found a replacement for Assot?"

Instantly confused, Tori's eyes narrowed. "Wait, what? What do you mean finally? He just die- uh… what do you mean finally?" she finished with a gulp.

"Well," a confused laugh came from Reid and his eyes questioned Tori with intensity. "You're his assistant, so you know all about his resignation that he announced weeks ago, right?"

"Uh, sure?"

"Yeah, they finally found his replacement and are sending in someone new on Monday. Now you don't have be miserable dealing with that dick all day."

Tori had to blink multiple times. She was beginning to think that her life wasn't even real anymore. It just seemed to be filled with the most random and unexplainable things lately that were starting to hurt her brain to think about. No, the man had never announced any resignation, he enjoyed torturing his employees too much to ever leave. And even if he had, Tori would know. He probably would have made her write some sort of falsely heartwarming speech about his departing.

You could practically see the lightbulb spring to life above her head once she figured it out. Her head snapped to Jade and she recalled the phone call that she had made to someone to come and pick up the body that night. It was probably one of those infamous clean up crews that she had always heard about; the ones specializing in creating lies and fixing supernatural messes with… well, she had no idea what with, but whatever it was it powerful. Apparently.

"How do you know this, exactly?" She finally asked as she brought her vision back to Reid.

"I got an e-mail. You didn't get one? Huh, I just figured they sent out to everyone."

And there was another clue. Slowly but surely, Jade was piecing this guy's relationship to Tori together. They at least worked in the same building, probably in the same office.

Tori couldn't help but smile, inspiring false hope into Reid's emotions. She wasn't smiling at him, necessarily, but at the fact that maybe she wasn't out of a job after all. And that whoever this new person coming in would still accept and expect her to be their assistant. So she smiled, finally feeling as if things were actually starting to go her way. Maybe the whole thing was just the universe's way of getting rid of a horrible person, and that her apartment was just collateral damage, or payment of some sort.

Either way, she immediately felt like the most horrible person in the world for thinking that way.

**-S-**

Jade sat through nearly twenty more minutes of the most boring thing she had ever witnessed in her life before she was finally letting loose an agonizingly produced groan. She had twisted around at her table, facing away from Tori and Reid and sitting in it properly, and slammed her head onto the surface.

There wasn't much being said between the two people on a date, with Reid being far too shy for his own good and Tori simply smiling away and sitting pleasantly through something she obviously didn't want to be doing. Pointless chatter would erupt every now and then, usually ending in response with, "cool" or, "that's nice" but neither of them seemed to bother even trying to elongate a conversation.

Suddenly, Jade was lifting up and twisting back in their direction. "Oh, for God's sake, stop!"

"What is it, Jade?" Tori was asking with a groan of her own.

Jade lifted out of her chair, grabbed it and slid it over to their table with an earsplitting screech across the concrete ground. She placed it backwards, in between Tori and Reid, and sat, leaning her front into the chair's back.

"This is the most painful thing I have ever sat through."

"Hey," Tori began agrily. "You didn't have to be h-"

"Ah!" But, Jade cut the girl off, lifting a scolding finger at her and cutting through her soul with an angry look. "Now, Reid, is it?"

Her head twisted in the confused man's direction and she accepted his nod. "You have got too stop being a pussy, man. Don't get me wrong, I love how you wore a hat when the social norm dictates that's rude to wear on a date, so, props for that, but! Have you ever even spoken to a woman before?"

"Well, yeah, I've actually-" He tried to reply, but was quickly receiving the same "ah!" from Jade that Tori had.

"That was rhetorical. Now," Jade cleared her throat, narrowed her vision, turned back to Tori and looked into her eyes as she finished speaking. "When you want something, Reid, you should just take it. Kind of like this."

A pale hand shot around Tori's head, grabbing at the back of it and pulling the head towards Jade. Her lips were forcefully pressed to Jade's. Tori squirmed and squealed but found herself held tightly in place as Jade began attempts at intensifying the kiss, parting her lips slightly and smacking away. The bruising pain from initial impact began to lessen and Tori found that Jade's lips were surprisingly soft, and her struggle lessened, as well.

There was a hiss in the air. They both could hear it. It was loud, but seemed a completely normal thing in the moment. And soon enough, Tori was forgetting her surroundings and surrendering to a feeling she didn't even know was there. Her face was locked to Jade's and she couldn't figure out why. All she knew was that she was enjoying it, and the thought of it ending seemed like the most wretched thing imaginable. Tongues danced, lips smacked and breaths were heaving in moments.

After an indistinguishable amount of time passed, Jade pulled away. She turned her attention back to Reid and said, "See?"

Tori touched at her lips and gulped. Her vision was slowly trailing downward until she realized that reality was actually a real thing again, and she looked up too, in Reid's direction. But, he wasn't even looking at them. Instead, he was looking off to the side, across the street, and at something that managed to catch his attention more than two girls making out did.

"Seriously?" Jade scolded. "Two very attractive females just sucked face in front of you and you're look at what?"

She followed his vision, trailing it across the street and straight to the one thing she was usually good a eradicating. A monster. The shrill scream of an unknown girl was heard half of a second later and Tori saw the thing too, just as Jade bolted up out of her seat and began rolling up her sleeves.

Tori's eyes opened wide, taking in the sight of what looked like a spider at least two and half feet tall and deciding that arguing about that kiss could wait until later. But this spider was solid black with only four legs coming out of a single, round body that also seemed to serve as it's head with one gigantic eye, standing in the middle of the street. It's mouth was just as large, but instead of big fangs, it was a huge, saliva dripping hole filled with tons of razor sharp teeth. And it was screeching. A screech so loud that people closer to it were having to hold their ears to try and shield themselves from the pain of it.

Not two seconds after Jade did, Tori stood as well. She looked to the girl that had just kissed her, fully expecting her to be acting. And she was.

Jade's long black sleeves were pulled all the way up to her elbows and markings were revealed; markings that Tori could have sworn weren't there earlier that morning. They were seemingly random, black scribbles, but Tori instantly knew them to be lesser, temporary versions of runes similar to the one Jade had on her bat. The Goth monster slayer quickly pulled out a marker and made a single line just at the base of her wrist, finishing off the final rune and activating them. Each small symbol glowed a quick and bright blue before fading out and sinking the power into her skin.

Jade leapt over the table in a split second, dashing towards the grotesque beast and sending memories flooding back into Tori's mind. And she remembered exactly what those runes did.

Beck and Jade had always shared a special relationship in high school. Their abilities were known to have come from the same place, wherever that may be, and it created an instant attraction between the two, expectedly making them boyfriend a girlfriend on day one. However, where as Jade's ability was far more fantastical, Beck's was completely physical. He had increased speed, strength, reflexes and dexterity whenever he concentrated, making him easily physically fit without even trying. Every girl swooned over his good looks and sheer skill, and every guy was completely jealous. So, to keep up with her long time boyfriend, Jade would pull out a natural talent of hers and scribe runes across her arms to give her abilities matching Beck's.

It wasn't something that most people were good at and the slightest mistake would render the powers useless and in some cases would even backfire, leaving one freshmen in particular with a twisted and shattered arm after trying to replicate the same results as Jade. Success rate aside, they didn't last long. Maybe an hour. And only someone specializing in their application could make a truly permanent rune on something. Like the one on Jade's bat. But, there were only handful of people like that in the world.

Rushing forward quicker than Tori remembered her capable of, Jade charged the monster. Her right hand extended at her side and that very bat formed with a purple glow. Her hand locked around the bat's handle and she gripped it tight just as she reached the oversized insect.

Tori's heart began beating rapidly, the intensity of recent moments striking hard. She wanted to react and even felt as if she need to, but what could she do?

The spider was alerted to Jade's presence almost instantly. The bat came swinging downward towards it fast and hard, but the thing unexpectedly blurred, quite literally, to the side and out of harms way. The magically imbued piece of wood slammed into the pavement with a loud, booming crack, shattering the spot that it struck. As if the noise was some sort of challenge to it, the spider screeched again as loud as possible and lunged at Jade, ready to devour.

And Jade might have ended up with a chunk taken out of her side, if something hadn't hit the monster in it's head-body, that is.

The cup crumpled upon impact and Reid stared at Tori in shock. Hot coffee lathered the spider's face, but it didn't faze it. Instead, it turned towards the offending brown haired girl and screeched again. Before it could react and charge towards her, however, Jade was swinging again. But the thing just continued to prove that it was superior, even matched up against Jade's tremendously increased speed.

She had lifted the bat, swinging it sideways this time and only barely missed as the spider dashed away in a panic, eager to escape it's attacker. In it's surprised state, it stumbled. It bumped a curb with two of it's legs and crashed into frightened, screaming people. The people were quickly judged as even more threats and it turned towards them, chomping and salivating at it's vast choices of food.

Jade continued the chase; swinging and missing, swinging and missing. It wasn't long before the thing was out of her reach, finally finding itself able to outrun her and it locked onto more human meals.

Tori could see the distraught look in Jade's face. This thing was like nothing she had ever taken on, and it was besting her. It was only a matter of time before someone actually got hurt. Luckily, the crazy woman with a bat and the many annoying screams of humans were enough to confuse and frighten it for a time. But that would only disorient it for so long. The spider had leaped up onto the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street from the it's attackers in pursuit of it's first human meal.

"Throw it, like last time!" Tori finally shouted.

Jade's eyes quickly found Tori before registering what she had said and then looked down to the bat. Her brow scrunched before looking back to Tori with frustration. "I'll never hit the damn thing, Vega! It's too fast!"

"Just trust me!"

And it worked. The moment the words flew out of Tori's mouth, Jade knew she was going to throw the bat. So, she did. It hurtled out, spinning and flying insanely fast. But, as predicted, it was easily going to miss. Jade's hands came up to pull desperately at the back of her head. Then, suddenly there was hope, and the same feeling she had felt seconds prior struck again. And somehow, she knew that the bat would strike true, despite its current trajectory.

Tori's hands lifted in front of her and she pulled. She yanked at nothing as if it was the heaviest thing she had ever grasped and the bat turned sharply at the last second. Just as a teenage girl was about to be mourned by her friends and family, the spider exploded. The bat sent it, and itself, crashing through the wall of the store next to it, shattering said wall and coating its edged in guts and green blood.

"Yes!" Jade hollered. With a lifted arm, she aimed her middle finger at the wreckage. "Fuck you, spidey!"

**-S-**

"Do you have any idea how much resources it is costing us at this very moment to fix that mess you made, Jade?"

Tori and Jade stood in front of a large brown desk, receiving a scolding from a short, extremely old and glasses wearing woman. Her skin was covered in wrinkle after wrinkle and her hair was silver. Tori could have sworn that she looked well over even one hundred, but her voice sounded as if she was still twenty five.

"What did you want me to do?" Jade fought back, stepping forward and flailing an arm in anger. "Just let that thing eat people? No. I reacted and saved who knows how many lives. So, you're welcome."

"Uh, we saved lives," Tori decided to add, albeit quite nervously.

The old woman peered over her glasses and cast a judging eye at Tori. "I'll get to you in a moment, Missy."

"Yeah, whatever. We killed the damn thing. Shouldn't that be good enough? I mean, this is why we have the Bender's isn't it, Seraph?" Jade said.

The Bender's, that's their name, Tori remembered. The ones that use some form of magic that only the Barrack's knows about to bend small portions of reality to keep the normal world from seeing the abnormal one. And, apparently, it costs quite a heavy fee to do so. No matter the cost, Tori just hoped that Reid would somehow forget about the whole thing. After the spider had died, he avoided Tori like the plague and left without saying a word to either of the girls. She decided not to bother chasing after him with the pain shooting through her head from moving the bat.

Tori had been informed that this "Seraph" was head of the L.A. department and oversaw all of the slayers under her jurisdiction. She had similar, yet far more powerful, charm to her than Desiree did and Tori felt it the moment they entered the building. She couldn't make herself stop smiling for nearly five minutes. Luckily, that same pleasant presence seemed to help with headaches though, too.

Seraph stood, planting palms on her desk and kept her composure when facing the usually overbearingly malicious Goth. She lifted an arm and extended an open palm in Jade's direction. "Give me the bat."

"What?" Jade blasted immediately. "No!"

"Either you hand over the bat or you're fired, Jade."

Tori finally stepped forward next to Jade and began some form of defense for the girl. "Why does she have to give you the bat? It was one mistake. Surely that can be overlooked just once, right?"

"Look, Tori," The old angelic woman began with a sigh. "You seem like a sweet girl. In fact, I can see how much good you have in you. But you don't know the trouble that this one," she pointed to Jade and a twitch could be seen in her eye. "has caused. There have been far too many problems in her employment than we would like. Now, she's a very good eradicator and it would certainly be a loss if she were to go, but I will _not_ baby her. She has responsibilities. Responsibilities that she was trained to apprehend to."

"It's okay, Tori." Jade's voice was calm and yet, filled with the utmost rage at the same time. "That's all they do lately; reward my successes with penalties." She pulled the bat from her pocket dimension and placed it gently onto Seraph's desk so as not to shatter the thing by dropping the bat a few inches.

Seraph's hand retracted and she didn't comment on the fact that she wanted Jade to hand it to her personally. "Good. And where was this unsanctioned assistant of yours, huh?"

"Unsanctioned?" Tori asked, shoving herself into the conversation again.

"Yes," Seraph answered, never taking her eyes off of Jade and Jade doing the same. "We would never hire someone of her… mental state. So your friend here pays Cat out of her own pocket. Though, I have no idea where her goodness comes from. There doesn't seem to be much in her heart, as far as I can tell."

Jade's arms crossed again and a smirk appeared, ignoring the question about Cat. "Then apparently you're not quite the holy being that you think you are. I'm not a God damned demon, you know."

"Maybe not, but if you had a partner that wasn't on the verge of needing serious help in a mental institution, then you might not have ended up here like this today."

It smacked her hard, as if the thought was Jade's bat slamming into her mind. "What about me?" Tori asked suddenly.

She wasn't even sure why she did it. Maybe it was the thrill experienced during the fight with the spider. Or maybe she just really didn't want to go back to a job that all she remembers being was miserable during. Whatever it was, it shocked even her that she said it.

"What?" Jade nearly yelled, almost instantly.

"Um," Tori laughed nervously, backing away from Jade and fiddling with her hands. "Well, I did help Jade kill that spider thing earlier, right? And I don't currently have a job. Or maybe I do. I'm not actually sure on that part, it's really confusing."

"Hmm." Seraph rubbed a hand across her chin in thought. She looked Tori up and down, scanning her for something unknown, before opening her mouth to speak again with a quickly inhaled breath. "You have had the same schooling as her, correct?"

"Uh, yes. Yeah! I do."

"And I am to understand that you're a telekinetic?" Seraph asked.

"Yes! That too!" Tori answered.

"Interesting." The old woman looked back to Jade and the smirk that spread acorss her lips outclassed any that Jade had ever produced. "That is a very rare gift you have...,"

"Oh, Tori."

"Tori. We haven't had one of your kind with us in a long time." Seraph looked back to Tori, shifting her smile into a sweeter, more genuine one. "If you do this, you will be on a six month training period, under Jade training and with less pay, until you're fully trained. You understand that, right?"

"Wait a second." Jade interrupted, casting evil eyes and an increasingly reddening face at Tori. "Don't I get a say in this? I already have a freakin' partner!"

Seraph's glasses were fixed into a proper position on her head and she sat back down, looking to the papers at her desk instead of Jade. "No, you don't. And you can keep that annoying little thing of a person if you want, it is your pay that you choose to squander, after all."

"I do!" Tori blasted. She took a few steps forward again and smiled an apologetic smile at Jade. "I understand, Sera."

"Don't call me that."

"Right." Tori's smile fell and she was instantly embarrassed. "Got it."

Jade shook her head and huffed in anger while Seraph looked up again, smiling back at Tori. She looked harder at the tan beauty than she had before and Tori could feel something strange. It felt as if something was probing her mind, and she didn't like that.

"So," the small old lady began. "What'll be, Tori? Are we going to slay monsters now? Or go back to a job in which you got your boss killed?"

* * *

**Note: **_So that was long. You know, this slowly feeding back story into it where it's actually relevant to the story thing is tiring. _

_Still interesting so far? _


	4. Chapter 4

**Note:** _Fair warning: this chapter is filled with lots of dialogue, but it gets in a whole lot of needed back story and the right emotions across. Basically, it's super information filled._

* * *

_Anger_

The acne covered clerk didn't even look up as Tori and Jade walked by him, exiting the store. Jade was practically stomping her way through, with folded arms and making sure that her huffs of displeasure were known. And Tori couldn't help but roll her eyes at the childish behavior. In her infuriated power walk, Jade lead Tori by nearly ten feet.

Once outside, Tori gave harder pumps to her legs and used the muscles gained from walking up so many stairs to burst forward and catch up to the girl ahead of her. She grabbed at Jade's shoulder as she reached out and spun her around, finding a very angry girl to look back at her.

"What?" Jade blasted.

With a quick shake of the head, Tori said, "What is your problem, Jade?"

"You are! And, and," Jade stuttered in response, trying to quickly gather her own thoughts so as not to look like a complete idiot. "And that!" she finally got out, pointing towards the building that they just exited it from.

Tori glanced in the direction of Jade's pointing finger and immediately felt confused. "You're angry at Blockbuster?"

Of course, if Tori had given it more than a seconds worth of thought then she would have realized what Jade was saying. Being the secret that it was, The Angel Barracks' headquarters in L.A. needed a place that it could hide behind. So, it was chosen to exist beneath one of the only Blockbusters left within many miles. After all, no one went to Blockbuster to get movies anymore. Not since Netflix showed up.

"You know what I mean, Vega! The freakin' Barracks!" Jade's face was quickly filling with red as her anger escalated further and further. She began to pace around, only taking a quick step or two before turning back and doing it again.

"Because they took your bat?"

"Yes! And many other things. And then there's you. Oh, is there you." She stopped pacing in a split second and lunged in Tori's direction, pointing an accusing finger in the girl's face. "You don't get to just show up again and insert yourself into my life, taking everything for yourself. Again!"

"Oh, come on." Tori scoffed with a small smile. She was taking the situation lighter than she should have, and Jade was picking up on that, angering her further. "I came into your life like, eight years ago, Jade. Was it really that bad?"

And Jade finally laughed too, but in a far less playful manner and closer to a woman on the edge of pure rage. "Do you not remember the same day that I do? The same three years? No, you came along and made everything about yourself, completely disregarding how it was affecting me."

"Well, I'm…" Tori found herself at a momentary loss for words, finally taking in the seriousness of the situation. "I'm sorry. I really a-"

"No!" Jade interrupted. "When you were finally gone, things were good. It didn't take long before my life was back on track and I was back on top. The job of my dreams. Lifestyle of my dreams. But, suddenly, all of that changed four months ago. Out of nowhere, I was being looked into by agents sent by the Barracks and having a watchful eye on my ass everywhere I went. Hell, I've gotten a slap on my wrist for doing something wrong multiple times and I still have no idea what it was that I actually did wrong!"

Jade stopped her rant and took a deep breath. She bent at her waist and placed hands on her thighs, letting that deep breath go and trying not to let herself be overwhelmed with the rage that was ever present within her. Maybe they were right. Maybe she _was_ connected to demons in some way.

She laughed a defeated laugh before continuing. "Four months ago. Why then? What was so special about…"

And then Tori was taking involuntary steps backwards as Jade lifted back up and got right back in her face, walking her backwards. The angry monster slayer's eyes were swimming in a sea of rage and Tori's back hit the glass wall behind her.

"When did you get back in town, Vega?" Jade asked.

Scared out of her mind, Tori laughed nervously and tried to smile in some sort of attempt to diffuse the situation. "Four months ago?" she finally said, more in the form of a question.

"Son of a…" Jade's fists clenched and she jerked away from Tori, biting down hard on her jaw and fighting a nearly losing war against the anger inside. "You see! It is you! Why? Huh? Why is it that whenever you get near me, things go to shit?"

In a flash, Jade was back in Tori's face again.

But Tori's fear was slowly being overcome by whatever confidence and bravery she withheld in storage and she used it, pushing off of the wall and not letting herself be pushed back into it. "You can't seriously believe that your problems are caused simply because I'm near you."

"Oh, I've seen some crazy things before, Ve-" Jade had to pause to take a gulp as something strange was felt throughout her body. "Vega!" She managed the last word just as a pain was sent through her stomach and she doubled over, clutching at her midsection.

"Jade?" Tori reacted immediately. She leaned down to touch at her shoulder the moment Jade was bending over. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know, it… it just hurts."

Jade gave one good grunt of pain before she was slowly lifting back up, the pain subsiding. But, Tori noticed something strange. It only appeared for a second, and if Tori wasn't so concerned for Jade and looking her in the eye, then she wouldn't have noticed it. Jade's eyes shined purple with a hint of red, glowing bright, before it was dimming back into her normal blue-green color.

"I'm fine." Jade said with an exhausted sigh.

With the evilest of glares, Jade looked Tori in her worried eyes. She started to turn around, back towards her car, and Tori quickly followed behind.

Jade's head turned sideways just slightly as she said, "Look on the bright side. Now that you're one of us, that supernaturally caused fire of yours will be taken care of and you can move back in in no time."

Tori opened her mouth to speak in retort, but figured it better not to prod the bear.

"The farther away from me the better," Jade added, just as they reached the vehicle.

**-S-**

The rain had started to lightly drizzle down five minutes prior, making the sky gloomy, the ground wet and the air cooler. Just how Jade preferred it. The car ride was completely devoid of talking and Jade's anger had simmered down to an acceptably manageable level. The weather was certainly helping her to calm down, but that didn't keep her from finding herself scared.

As much as she didn't want to except it as truth, it was becoming increasingly more difficult with each passing day to believe that there wasn't something dark and evil inside of her. She could feel it, like a beast trying to claw it's way out. It seemed to be brought on by anger and her anger came more easily every day. In the last few years, her greatest fear was that she herself would become a monster and some halfwit slayer would come to eliminate her. Maybe now that halfwit would be Tori.

Fitting, she thought. Jade would end up the monster that everyone always assumed she would become, killed by the angel of a person that was Tori Vega.

Looking over to Tori for the first time since they entered the van, she found that the girl was staring into her lap. Tori held a small sheet of paper in one hand, with a pen in the other and she just stared, reading over what was written on it over and over. The writing was big enough for Jade to make out and she discovered that it said "Marz" in Tori's handwriting.

"What's Marz?" Jade asked, glancing from Tori to the road randomly.

Still with a worried look, Tori turned to Jade and offered an unsure smile. "It's the word I told you about. The one that was written on my bedroom wall when the fire started."

Jade's eyes narrowed as she thought hard on what the word meant. She could have sworn that she had heard it before, it just sounded so familiar. A silence fell over the car again, though all of Jade's equipment and various things used to slay the many varieties of monsters clanked around in the back of the van, as well as the soft ambience of rain patter.

"Are you, uh," Tori laughed her favorite nervous laugh and bravely continued, breaking the silence. "Are you still angry?"

"I'm always angry. But, no. I'm not going to tear your head off right now, if that's what you're wondering."

"Okay, good."

Jade scoffed at Tori's choice of words and rolled her eyes.

"I just wanted to know," Tori was still tiptoeing around, trying to say things in a way that didn't immediately set Jade off again. Put simply, she was scared. "Why do you want to sleep with me so bad if you hate me? I mean, I'm sorry but that just doesn't make much sense to me. Especially since you know that I'm not gay."

"I already told you. I don't have to like you to want to shove my fingers in you."

Tori was ready to reply, but once again found herself at a loss for words dealing with Jade. But Jade's expression seemed to light up at the thought and Tori let the girl continue to feel that way.

"It's a carnal thing. And I'm a very carnal person. Watching you squirm," Jade continued, her mouth slowly curling into a smile. "See the ecstasy in your face as I give you pleasure that only Jade West is capable of."

Odd as it was to hear, Tori still smiled. She figured she could live with not knowing why it was that Jade wanted to have sex with her, even though she apparently hated her, once she saw the smile and relaxation that took hold of Jade's emotions.

Tori let the silence sit for a few moments so that Jade would have even more time to simmer down before she was asking even more questions. "Can I ask you something else?"

"Yeah, why not."

"Why do you pay Cat out of your own money? I heard what Seraph said, but… surely she can't be that damaged that they wouldn't hire her, right?"

Jade sighed. The leathery steering wheel made noise as her hands tightened around it and she gulped, blinking more than her average. "You must be remembering the wrong Cat, then. She's not really very bright, Tori. You have to have actual logic and reasoning to do this job."

And with one insult for good measure, Jade added, "Which is why I'm surprised they even considered you."

"Yeah, I guess." Tori ignored the jab at her intelligence and instead, took on an indifferent sort of expression. "She was a little out of her mind, huh?"

"Yup. Still is."

But Tori could see it in Jade's face. She was hiding something; something to do with Cat and for some reason, even Jade was scared to say it aloud. So Tori decided to let it go. It would be just another mystery that would go unsolved in favor of keeping the beast at bay.

"Okay, my turn for a question," Jade said.

"Sure."

"What's with all that power you've been slingin' around lately?" Jade's head turned to the side and she gave Tori a curious look up and down. "If I recall correctly, you could barely manage to move sheets of paper without whimping out."

Even though Jade's head was already turned back in a front facing direction to keep an eye on the road, Tori shrugged anyway. "The first time I did it was during the fight with the big green guy. I just figured that it was a survival thing, you know? But, that didn't stop it from feeling like someone shot me in the head afterwards, though."

"Still with the headaches?"

"Yup," Tori replied. "Although, it wasn't nearly as severe when I moved the bat today."

Tori looked to Jade, giving her a sizable look up and down as well, before she was adding, "Still pulling out stuff that is all wrong every now and then?"

"Yup," Jade replied with as well. "The void's a tricky place, Vega. You never know what's going to happen with it."

And there it was again. Jade's face bore a look that said she was holding something back, something dark.

"You sure that's all?" Tori finally said, breaking her decision to refrain from prodding into what might set Jade off again.

"Alright, that's enough personal crap," Jade snapped.

"Oh, okay th-"

But Tori couldn't even finish her tiny sentence before Jade was speaking again. "You need to understand how things are going be. You're going to be working under me, possibly in more ways than one, and I expect you to accept that rule and not question my every order."

Tori's brow furrowed and a feeling of extreme discomfort washed over her as she reluctantly said, "Right."

"I train my body hard so that I can handle this job and I won't slow down just to accommodate you."

"Hey, I like to go up and down stairs a lot," Tori threw in.

Jade's eyes left the road and they slowly made contact with Tori's. Mild anger could be seen in them and in an instant, they told Tori that that wasn't anywhere near good enough. Tori gulped at the thought of what Jade was going to put her through.

Tori's head tried retreating in on itself. "No stairs then."

Jade's eyes returned to the road and she clenched her jaw, trying not to let the annoyance of Tori Vega get to her so that she could finish her explanations. "You are going to sweat, you are going to bleed, and you are going to like it. After all, if you don't know pain then it is going to come as the shock of your life when things start fighting back with just as much heart as you did fighting the Hulk the other day."

"Bleed?" Tori's voice was tiny and filled with fear.

"Yes," And then Jade's eyes were back on Tori's. Her face struck a devilish smirk. "Bleed."

All Tori could do was gulp again.

"Hey, you're the one that wanted to be my partner, remember?"

"Yes, I remember," Tori answered with a disappointed sigh. "Just… tell me what the pay is, or something."

Still with that same smirk, Jade looked back to the road. "Well, you'll get less than me for a while, but… it really just depends on what beasts you're assigned. There's three classes of victims; the small sized for little children, the mediums for your average consumer, and the large ones for bigwigs like me."

"Wow, you only hunt big stuff?"

"No, but I should," Jade answered. "Unfortunately, whatever they give me is what I gotta' take out. And it seems random, most weeks. Now, the mediums are the most average. You know, Vampires, Werewolves and the like."

"But," Tori started in confusion. "Didn't we go to school with a few Were's?"

"Yeah, the domesticated ones. But just like humans, they vary in every aspect of their personality. And also just like humans, they have a tendency for violence. And when they get violent…"

"People get dead."

"And then we remove their heads. At which point we would be rewarded with a thousand bucks."

"Whoa!" Tori shouted instantly. "A thousand? For how many kills?"

"Just one."

Tori's eyes opened wider and her mouth hung open, searching for the right thoughts and feelings. "Christ. Are you serious?"

"Yep. And that's just for a medium," Jade continued. "Smalls are anywhere from one hundred to five hundred, and the big ones are always in the multiple thousands. But, like I said, mediums are the most average, and are usually what we get assigned."

"So how many do you take out a week?"

"Hmm," Jade's eyes squinted in thought. "I'd say the average is three or four."

And again, Tori was rendered dumbfounded. "So you get paid three or four thousand a _week_?"

Jade chuckled. "Look at you, doing math and shit."

"Well," Tori's expression turned less from shocked, and closer to confusion again. "If you get paid so much… then why do you live in that apartment. I know it's big and nice and all, but with that kind of money, I'm sure you could have something even better."

"Because, I," And Jade's dark demeanor returned. She clenched the wheel again, tried not to gulp, and continued. "Because I pay for the one next door, too."

"Really? Why?"

"It's where Cat lives."

**-S-**

The apartment door swung open, slamming into the wall with a loud crack, and Jade was headed straight for the living room couch. Luckily, there was no one currently seated on it. She approached it from the back and placed her left hand at the top, lifting up and swinging herself over as she pulled a television remote out of her void pocket. Within seconds, Jade was completely relaxed into the couch, flipping through channels, and kicking her boots off.

"Really?" Tori said, coming inside the apartment just moments after. "You keep the remote with you?"

But Jade ignored the girl that she had been with all day. Instead, Desiree exited the kitchen with a glass of water in hand and opened her mouth, ready to speak. Before she could get a word out, however, another girl was coming out from behind the angelic woman with a quickness and yelling, "Tori!"

Cat Valentine was crashing into Tori with a big hug in a split second. It was quite the strong hug, as Cat often forgot her own strength and had to be told when she was overdoing it.

"Cat," Tori managed through an exhaled breath and pain. "You're… squeezing too hard."

With a quick and frightful gasp, Cat let go. "I'm so sorry, Tor! I just missed you so much, and the other day I saw you, but I wasn't as hyper and excited as I am now and then you were gone and I didn't even get to see you for very long and Iggy's here! He can still talk!"

Tori's head dipped downward and she tried her hardest to wrap her mind around everything that had just sprung from the little redhead's lips. "Sure can," she blurted out, suddenly smiling largely and laughing along when Cat started to do so.

And Tori thought _she_ was insane sometimes. Though, this version of Cat seemed a bit off in comparison to what Tori remembered. But, then again, Tori could never quite expect what would happen with Cat next. To her surprise, again, Cat grabbed Tori's hand and interlocked their fingers, snuggling up next to her and into her shoulder.

"Anyway," Desiree finally chimed it. "About the remote. Jade always says the things that we watch are crap c-"

"No, I call them shit." Jade interrupted.

"Yes, that." Desiree held a straight face, but even Tori could tell that the girl wanted to get angry. "She says they are the S word compared to what she prefers to watch. So, she keeps the thing with her at all times to change the channel on us whenever she feels like."

Sarcastically, Tori said, "Shocking."

"Jade!" Cat blasted, casting an adorably angry look in Jade's direction. "I thought we talked about not cursing anymore."

"You talked. I ignored."

Cat huffed and looked up to Tori. "You wouldn't ignore me, right? Or curse?"

"Uh," Tori's nervous laugh reappeared and her eyes flicked all around the room, landing on Jade's twisted around and smirking face. "Of course not."

"I knew you wouldn't!" And then Cat was squeezing Tori's hand in affection. Way too hard.

"Ow, Cat! Too hard again!"

With another, "Sorry!" and quick gasp, Cat let go and scolded herself all of the way to a nearby love seat, where she plopped down. She looked sad to Tori and the newest slayer of monsters felt sorry for her.

Just like Cat's personality, her powers bounced all over the place. Today she seemed to have a significant increase in strength, which was also made evident by the color of her hair. She was an oddity, Cat Valentine. She held within her many different abilities, but lacked the one ability that would allow her to choose which ones would be currently active. No, some other cosmic force decided that, and whatever it was, it also decided her hair color. The brighter red it got, the stronger she would become; the darker, she became faster. Sometimes it would seem more pinkish, and her skin would be tough as steel. Sometimes a purple hue would mix with the red, and she would heal all wounds that tore into her skin.

And sometimes, something she had seemingly acquired in recent years, it would go completely black and she would seem like your normal, average, everyday twenty two year old. Today was far from one of those days.

Her eyes were glued to the same large television that Jade watched and lips jutted out in her pout. She continued to shake her head and her mouth even began to move, as if she was saying things that only she would know, scolding herself for letting her powers slip her mind again.

"She'll be alright," Desiree said, noticing the worrisome looks Tori had for Cat. "You knew her, right? She'll be happy again in minutes."

Tori smiled in return. It wasn't a very satisfied smile, but it was the only one that she could manage in the moment. "Yeah, you're right."

"So," Desiree's face said it was time for gossip and Tori was immediately excited to finally have another girl, other than Jade and Cat, to talk to. Desiree's face lit up in a grin and she scooted in closer to Tori. "How was the big date, huh?"

"Oh," Whatever excitement had built up in Tori quickly vanished when she was reminded of earlier events. Her shoulders slumped and a bit of guilt seeped in.

"Wow, that bad?"

"Well," Tori glanced to Jade and sighed, a bit of a whine edging her voice as she decided whether to mention the kiss or not. "Yeah, it was pretty bad. First of all, he thinks I'm a freak now because we got attacked by a spider thing and I ended up using my powers to help Jade kill it."

"Naturally." Desiree added.

"Right? I mean, I helped save peoples lives and he runs away from me. What the frick is that about?"

"He's more than likely just not supernaturally inclined."

And, for the thousandth time in the last few days, Tori was confused. "What?"

"Surely you've wondered how it is that all of this crazy stuff stays hidden?"

"Well, yeah, but…" Tori paused, actually trying to come up with a reasonable response. "Isn't that what the Bender's are for?"

"Yes, but there's only so much they can do, Tori." Desiree's face slipped into a professionally perky one, as if she was trained in and excited to be informing someone of her knowledge. "You see, most normal people are born with the natural instinct to avoid and overlook things that simply don't make sense to the rest of the world. It's as if our worlds were never actually supposed to mix, and the universe is trying its hardest to keep them separate."

"I guess that makes sense. You know, in a way that doesn't make sense at all."

Desiree laughed at Tori and took a sip of her water, walking towards the seating area with the rest of the group. She took a seat in the recliner, which was the only seat remaining that wasn't the three person couch, and Tori stood for a moment, searching for a place to sit. After a few moments of jerking her head around in her search, and a threatening glare from Jade, Tori once again braved the waters and sat next to the angry pale girl.

Jade smiled a smile that only shows itself when a person is angry. She shrugged her shoulders and then lifted her legs up and to the side, right into to Tori's lap.

"Um, excuse you?" Tori said.

Jade's brow lifted high and she looked to Tori with innocent eyes. "What?"

"Can your feet not be in my lap, maybe?"

"No, they can. You're soft. You chose to sit there, in my house, and my feet happen to like soft."

"Whatever," Tori said in defeat. She shook her head and looked back to the television, catching a quick glance at Desiree as she did. The girl had a knowing smile and she sat Indian style in the seat, letting her giggle go unheard by anyone but herself.

"Oh, yeah," Tori suddenly remembered. "I'm Jade's partner now."

"And how did that happen?" Desiree asked.

"Helped kill a giant spider."

"Right," Desiree's eyes hit the ceiling and she gave herself a mental face palm. "How I didn't put that together in the first place escapes me. Well, congratulations, Tori. If anyone can stay by Jade's side and possibly keep her at bay, it's you."

In perfect unison, Jade and Tori both said, "Doubt it."

A giggle was heard coming from Cat's direction and everyone turned to her.

"Cat? What do you think of me being you guys' partner now?" Tori asked.

"Sounds fun!" The small girl blasted. "I love threesomes!"

"Yeah, I don't think you quite understand what you just sa-" Tori began, but was cut off when Jade talked over her.

"I think a threesome sounds like a great idea, actually." Jade sat up from her relaxed position, with an overly hopeful expression, before finishing. "Hell, let's make it a foursome."

Cat was the first to respond with, "I don't get it."

Tori was second, speaking in a disappointed tone. "Jade…"

And finally, Desiree said, "Gross."

Tori then elongated the word, "Okay," before taking in a much needed deep breath and trying to move the subject on to something else. "So, Jade, do you know what happened to the rest of our high school friends? I tried to keep in touch for a while, but.."

Relaxing back into her spot with another angry look, Jade said, "But you couldn't be bothered with those you left behind, right?"

"It wasn't like that and you know it!"

"Fine, whatever." Jade said. "I don't feel like yelling anymore anyway. Andre is around. I've seen him a few times. I'm pretty sure he got married or something. Probably hides his gift from the girl, too."

Tori shook her head at Jade. "God you're bitter."

"Sure am. And I couldn't care less about Robbie. Haven't seen him since graduation."

"And Beck?"

She was hesitant again. Jade looked at Tori and the reservation was evident in her face. "Canada," she finally revealed. "He slays things too, just… not here."

Tori could see that same look again. She was starting to feel as if something was majorly wrong, seeing Jade with such inner turmoil. Tori just wished there was something she could do about; something that wouldn't immediately send Jade into rage mode again, getting her nowhere. But, before Tori even had a chance to decide on what to respond with, or even comment on the fact that Jade's ex was also an eradicator of evil beasts, Desiree was speaking again.

"Why _did_ you leave, Tori?"

Tori took in another deep breath and as she was still watching Jade's expressions, she saw indignation. "Well, I used to have these delusions of becoming really famous. Like, being a singer or actress or something like that. So I followed my sister up to New York. She got some stupid reality show and I figured that if she could make it, then so could I."

"Wait," Desiree sat up straight and looked Tori right in the eye. "Trina Vega? You're _that_ Vega's sister?"

"The one and only."

"I don't mean to be rude, but… I kind of feel sorry for you."

Trina Vega was one of the most infamous reality stars, and Tori had the displeasure of being related to her. She had only become recognized due to her lack of talent, but it spread like wildfire, landing her million dollar contracts to essentially be a party going, dirty, foul mouthed slut on camera.

"Yeah, if you know who Trina is then you know why I had to get away from her. There's only so much of that lifestyle a normal person can take, you know? I lived with her for nearly five years and luckily, I managed to stay out of the tabloids and away from the cameras. Thank God I was smart enough not to sign those stupid release forms. Being Trina's sister, or ever acting like her, is not how I wanted to be noticed."

"That," Desiree added, smiling a proud smile. "And most of the camera men and paparazzi probably weren't supernaturally inclined."

And it finally made sense to Tori. "Huh, well that explains a lot, then."

"Certainly comes in handy, doesn't it? Being able to avoid the paparazzi of all things."

Desiree held onto that proud smile of hers until a thought struck, and it fell. "Wait, if you're related to Trina, then shouldn't she have powers like you?"

Jade laughed a hardy laugh.

"No," Tori answered. "As far as I know, I'm the only one with any sort of ability in my family. Trina didn't even go to the same school as us."

Suddenly, the cutest snore imaginable was heard. Cat had somehow fallen asleep while they were talking and she was even curled up in the big fluffy love seat; kind of like an actual cat.

"Strange girl, she is," Tori said. When her sight returned to the other two girls in the room it landed on Jade, who just stared at her. "What?"

Jade's eyes narrowed and the slightest of smirks appeared. "Proposition."

"Oh, God… what is it?"

"Instead of me completely destroying your body working out tomorrow, if you come to my room right now, I'm sure we could get _just_ as good of a work out."

Jade took note of the disgusted look Tori gave and she knew that the answer was a no. But that didn't stop her from adding in, "Hell, there would probably even be blood and sweat in that, too."

* * *

**Even more Notes:** _Alright, I feel like the girls might be getting a little too out of character, even for an AU story. What do you think? And the next chapter should contain less of this massive amount of dialogue. In fact, it will be Tori's first day of training under Jade, and you can be sure that Jade will make it quite interesting. I'm fairly certain I will title it "Blood and sweat."_

_Oh, and are these too long? I know that it gets a lot of things done per chapter, but how many of you get bored before you make it all of the way down?_

_Anyway, I love each and every one of you that actually enjoys this little story._


	5. Chapter 5

**Awesome note:**_ Just so you know; this was definitely my favorite chapter to write so far. It came easily to me and the writing just flowed, without a whole lot of revisions afterwards at all, either. It also happens to be the longest thing I've ever written for a FanFiction chapter. Enjoy!_

* * *

_Blood and sweat, runes and magic_

Magic. In a world that generally made no sense to Tori, magic was the strangest.

Jade sluggishly shuffled out through her bedroom doorway on autopilot, starting her daily routine. She reached the bathroom nearest to her room, which was also the biggest, and paused in confusion when she came face to face with its closed door. Light cracked through in a horizontal line at the bottom and she knew that someone else was in there. Someone was in _her _bathroom during the same time that _she_ used it each and every morning.

Shower, then coffee. Sometimes it was the other way around. But that was how it had always been. And now someone had decided that it would be different this particular morning.

Her eyes filled with anger and she stared; stared at the door as if it had wronged her in the most unimaginable ways, and she prepared to strike. Opening her mouth and lifting a fist, her sluggish attitude sprang to an energetic life and she took a step forward. But just before her fist connected with the hardwood, before curse words flung out of her booming voice, the door opened.

"Oh! Morning, Jade," said a perky, very awake Tori Vega.

Jade's fist fell from its skyward position, but her anger remained. "Why in the hell are you using my bathroom, Vega?"

"Well, Desiree was using the other one when I woke up, so…"

"So you just thought," Jade slipped into her southern belle accent, pulling it out of a five year old closet, but dusting it off and falling into it expertly. "Oh, I'll just use Jade's shower! I mean, I am Tori Vega, after all. And I get whatever I very well please!"

Tori scoffed and her perky smile diminished. "Look, Jade, I didn't even know it was reserved specifically for you. Besides, it's no big deal. I'm done now anyway."

Jade felt it. Looking at a girl who had reason and logic and every right to be where she currently was, Jade still felt it. The anger bubbled up far quicker than she had ever been comfortable with, and it scared her once more.

She took a deep breath, closing her eyes and opening them to look Tori up and down a second later. The tan beauty stood with wet hair, wrapped only in a towel. Her skin still glistened in its only recently dried state and she stared back at Jade, waiting for some sort of response and expecting an angry one. But it didn't come. Instead, Jade managed to latch on to the lust brought upon by Tori's appearance and the anger subsided. Her eyes took shelter in one spot in particular, Tori's cleavage, and a smirk appeared.

Tori rolled her eyes and thought about shoving past her new partner, but another living thing came trotting out of the bathroom before she could do so. Iggy's small footsteps were quick as he came out, looking up Tori's towel and not even acknowledging Jade's presence.

"Seriously?" Jade asked. "He gets to see you naked, but I don't?"

"Iggy!" Tori screamed. She clamped her toned legs together and brought one hand down to her crotch, where she held the towel pressed tightly to her as her other arm hid her cleavage from Jade. And a blush struck her cheeks. "Dang it! I _just _managed to find a way to keep him out of my bathroom at home, but now this one is new… and he's really crafty."

Jade laughed and crossed her arms. Tori scooted past her and slowly, still trying to hide her sensitive parts, headed for her room. Finally walking into her own bathroom, Jade kicked Iggy across the room towards Tori and closed the door.

But once she was alone again, the anger began to settle in. She tried to push it down, but it refused to leave her be. Her hands slapped down onto the edge of the sink counter and she growled. Dark hair cascaded down in front of her as her head dipped and her eyes looked up, peeking through the many strands into the mirror. Blue eyes met blue eyes and she tried to look into herself; tried to figure out just why and how she was so angry all of the time. It was yet another part of her routine. And every time, she failed to figure out the answer. Today was different, however. The anger was stronger and her hands shook, and she could feel the beginnings of the same pain in her stomach she had felt yelling at Tori the day before.

Somehow, she managed to keep whatever she was feeling leveled out there. She stood for many minutes, simply not allowing herself to fall into whatever her body was telling her to fall into, staring into herself and fighting back against an invisible darkness.

Then there was a knock.

"Jade?" Desiree's voice muffled its way through the door.

It came out deeper and angrier than she wanted it to, but Jade replied with a quick, "What?"

"I can feel it, you know."

Silence.

After those few words were spoken, everything went silent. At least for Jade it did. Of course Desiree could tell what was going on. Because it would be so much easier if she didn't. And nothing ever came easy for Jade West.

"Something's happening with you, isn't it?" The Angel in training continued. "I've felt it for a few days now. And you know this is why I was sent here, don't you?"

More silence.

Jade had no idea how to answer the girl's questioning and after a while, she leaned off of the counter, ignoring the pain and dents created in her skin from the pressure and whispered an almost inaudible, "Yes." Moments later the shower started up, and Desiree left.

Once Jade had finally emerged, things were still somewhat silent. Desiree didn't speak, but watched her carefully. So Jade watched her, too. Neither had any idea what was actually going on, but they were both equally as scared; Jade because she didn't want to become some sort of monster, and Desiree because she loves all people and seeing one fall into a darkness saddened her to no end. This avoidance, but watchful game lasted for the rest of the morning before Jade was finally alone with Tori.

The newly assigned partners drove to the place Jade had told Tori she sometimes went to so that she could train herself in peace.

Parking at a seemingly secluded piece of land nearly half an hours drive away from the apartment, Tori hopped out with curiosity. The city could easily be seen around them, but this place was abandoned. Half of it was a single, small parking lot attached to a run down building that had noticeably been closed down some years ago. The structure was about two stories tall, and probably once housed some sort of independently owned store. Behind the building was an even larger open field.

Jade had stopped the van in front of this building and climbed out just seconds after Tori had. She came around to the back, where she met Tori.

"So why this place?" Tori was instantly questioning, dropping her hands into her jean cut-off's pockets.

Jade simply looked Tori up and down and began rolling up the sleeve on her right arm as she replied. "Do you see any people here?"

"No."

"Then there's your answer."

The day was a warm one, unlike the previous. But Jade had always run hot and it was impossibly difficult to make her sweat, let alone find the heat at all uncomfortable. While her worn down shirt showed off a bit of her midriff, most of her pale skin was covered by black clothing.

Tori didn't reply to their brief conversation and once Jade's sleeve was all of the way rolled up, she opened her palm and spread her fingers wide. She took out the same marker Tori had seen her use during the fight with the spider and pulled off the top with her teeth, holding it there for safe keeping. Her hands fell steady, her eyes focused. And with precision, she began to slowly draw a simple runic design onto her palm. Once it was finished, she paused for a second and took a deep breath.

Tori just watched. She was curious as to what was going on, and was overwhelmingly urged to ask about it, but she knew that answers would come in moments. So she just watched, and admired.

Jade's hand lifted up and pressed into the space between the van's double door handles. A larger blue runic design lit up under her hand in a flash before it was gone and a click was heard. Two seconds later and Jade was opening the doors. Tori should have known that Jade would have a magical lock on the vehicle.

"Well," Tori started in slight amazement. "That was pretty cool."

"Everything I do is cool, Vega." Jade's voice was bored, her demeanor agitated.

Tori rolled her shoulders and looked upon her old friend with worry. It might not be a mutually accepted friendship, but Tori was stubborn. "Are you okay, Jade? You seem a bit… on edge, or something."

After eyeing Tori once more, Jade ignored her and placed a knee into the back of the vehicle, leaning forward to grab at something.

It was almost impossible to tell what was what inside of the thing. There were so many things that Tori found strange looking and they were jumbled up in no particular order. Various jars full of ingredients, big and metal weapons, a demonic looking teddy bear… and… a plastic broom?

"Need to sweep this thing out regularly, do we?" Tori asked, just as Jade retracted with a small jar.

Jade found a standing position again. "What?"

"The broom." Tori pointed at the subject of her question and then brought the hand back to run her fingers through her hair. "It's kind of out of place compared to the rest of the stuff in there."

"Oh, that," Jade said. A smile finally broke out across her face and she laughed. "I keep lots of trophies from the things that I kill. We're not really supposed to, but… I do it anyway."

"That still doesn't quite explain the broom."

Jade sighed, finding further agitation in having to explain unnecessary things to someone. "It was a Witch's. But, most actual Witch's don't stir cauldrons and have giant, ugly noses. Or, most importantly, they don't ride around on big wooden broomsticks. So, after I killed her in her stupid face, I raided her pantry and found this bad boy."

"Pantry?" Tori asked, earning an angry look from Jade.

"Yes. Pantry," Jade responded. "She was a normal little housewife that got cheated on by her husband and turned to the dark arts to put him in his place. Now, I'm all for a little payback on cheating bastards, but she didn't quit there. Eventually, anyone who said something mean to her, or gave her a bad look, would end up a frog crushed under her expensive heels."

"Literally?"

"Literally."

"Well, okay then," Tori said, concluding the conversation.

Then she began again, starting her next topic of choice. "What's in the jar?"

Jade smirked and started walking towards the abandoned building. She looked over her shoulder, to a Tori following behind her, and lifted up the jar. "Thousands of shards of crushed glass."

Tori stopped and hesitated for a moment. She also gulped.

The front doors pushed open with a loud, metal shrieking sound and Tori was the only one to plug her ears and cringe. The large, open area was dark, aside from random bits of light that trickled in from various windows and even a hole in the roof towards the back. Taking only eleven steps into the place, Jade bent down and her knees met with the hard surface of the very dusty floor.

Tori watched with further curiosity as the jar was opened and a small pile of the glass shards was poured out.

Standing up and facing Tori, Jade said, "Okay. What all do you remember about magic?"

All of the curiosity in Tori's expression disappeared and was replaced by mild contempt. "Did you really just ask me that? You know for a fact that I'm the worst person in the world when it comes to using magic. The little freaks hate me."

Jade laughed harder than she had in quite some while and Tori instantly knew that the girl had started the training with this subject on purpose.

It was the only class Tori Vega had ever actually come close to failing in school, and she only managed to pass because her teachers felt sorry for her. Tori had found herself with the conclusion that magic hated her, in the most literal sense possible. All of the stupid little faces grinning and laughing and mocking, she thought.

"Alright," Jade began, still with laughter edging her speech. "That's something that we'll have to work on. There's no way you'll make it in this job without at least being able to do a few basic things."

She pulled out a small sheet of paper from her back pocket and handed it to Tori. "Here, read that."

Tori knew what it was. Most magic was generally cast by combining a specially acquired, magical substance to a piece of earth, and then reading the desired spells name aloud. So, the most commonly practiced way of doing this was to mix the mysterious magic substance with ink and write it onto a sheet of paper made from a tree, at which point you would say it aloud.

"Why do I have to do it first? It'll just backfire, you know that," Tori whined.

"Exactly," Jade answered. "Now, this one in particular is super effective on vampires. Thus the reasoning for the crushed up light bulb glass."

Tori had heard of this before, too. While she had never dared to attempt this spell in particular, it was still a commonly known one. The spell would spring the glass to life, creating a walking flash bomb that was somewhat lethal to vampires; sizzled their skin and burnt their eyes to temporary blindness. But, on humans it worked as a simple lower grade normal flash bomb.

"Seriously, though? That's what you named it?" Tori asked, looking at the name on the sheet of paper.

You could essentially name the spells whatever you wanted once the ink was applied, as long as the universe around you knew your intentional spell. Which was probably another factor in why Tori sucked at it.

"Yes, now do it before I make you. I mean, I could stand here admiring your legs all day, but we've got other stuff to do. So just do it."

"But," Tori continued her whine. "How are we supposed to shield our eyes if…"

"Do it, damn it!" Jade basted suddenly, venom lacing her words.

"Fine," Tori muttered. She cleared her throat and sighed. Rolling her eyes, she lazily mumbled the name of the spell. "Blinky."

And Blinky was born.

The glass shards immediately lifted up and began converging into each other, swirling and colliding in a tiny tornado of slicing death. In a matter of seconds, a glowing, white, tiny, humanoid figure stood at the girls' feet. It was no more than three inches tall and had an enormously large head, over twice the size of what humans' are compared to their bodies.

All magic was alive. Each different spell was a single, independent personality that was shared across the world, no matter how many people were using that spell. Blinky, as Jade called the vampire incapacitating one, had a round head that came into a point at the top. He had big hollow eyes, an even larger stomach, and two tiny legs. But he was missing any arms, just as all other Blinky's would that had ever been, and ever will be born into the world.

Each variety of spell had a different personality. But they all shared one thing in common; an apparent hatred for Tori Vega.

As expected, the little guy turned to Tori, laughed maniacally with is screechy voice, and lunged high into the air, up at her face. She cringed as Jade laughed and turned the other way, covering her face with her sleeves. Just as it was only a few inches from Tori's face, it exploded. Extremely bright light flashed in front of Tori and she cursed loudly, instantly closing her eyes and falling to the floor.

Jade's eyes were uncovered and she was quickly roiling with laughter, clutching at her stomach and face turning red. She watched, and laughed harder, as Tori whined in pain on her knees.

"Screw you, West!" Tori yelled. "It's not funny! I can't see and it stings like hell!"

"And that's why it's funny!"

Jade would never say it aloud, especially not to Tori, but she would probably cherish this moment no matter what happened in the future. All day she could feel the beast within clawing its way to the surface. But seeing an extremely beautiful girl fall to her knees because she is an utter failure at using magic, and because so was rendered blind, sparked laughter that proved itself a worthy foe against that very beast.

**-S-**

Runes. Jade was a girl of many mystical talents, but the art of crafting, applying and using runes was her personal favorite.

Nearly two hours after they had arrived at the barren place, Tori leaned against Jade's car in frustration with arms folded. She huffed with an audible grunt, so that jade would hear it, just as said girl closed the back van doors again and came around to Tori.

"What's the point?" Tori shrugged, lifting off of the vehicle and waving her arms around like a crazed maniac. "Magic hates me, and I hate them. Surely I don't _have _to use magic to do this?"

"Trust me, you'll need it at some point or another." Jade answered.

Tori said it under her breath. "Whatever."

For the whole of the two hours spent in the empty building, Tori had attempted various different spells, always with the same result. She would bring one to life, whatever its purpose may be, and it turned on her. It was unexplainable. For some unknown reason, the little things hated her with a passion. Her eyes were red and puffy, and they squinted in pain. She held more than a few bruises and even cuts on her once beautiful skin.

But, Jade, on the other hand, thought the 'battle scars' made her look even more attractive.

Approaching Tori from her side, Jade stopped in front of her with a pivot to turn in her direction. She folded her arms and smirked. "Keep in mind that we're not done yet. And before we get to the physical part, you can still take me up on the bedroom offer, instead."

After there was no immediate answer, Jade continued with, "Although, and I think you would agree, doing it right here would be so much hotter. Especially since you already look like we had a wild night inside of each other."

Tori rolled her eyes. Again. But it was different. It wasn't in nearly as much disgust as she had previously presented. No, this time it was closer to embarrassment, as her weight shifted and her shoulders rolled, tilting her head sideways to try and hide. Jade got the message, though. It still wasn't going to happen. At least not yet, as far as Jade was concerned.

"Let's just get on with it, okay?" Tori managed.

"As you wish, Vega."

As Jade smiled a disappointed smile, Tori returned to herself. As close as she could possibly get to her normal self, anyway.

Her mouth opened and she drew in a quick, thoughtful breath. "We're changing the name of this thing now, right? Because… Scissor me Jaded? Really?"

"_Hell_," Jade began, elongating the word and speaking very clear and loudly. "_To the no."_

"It doesn't even make sense!" Tori argued.

"It makes perfect sense. You see, my name is Jade… and I like scissors. I also like to scissor things; people, mostly. And scissors can kill things. So, whether you be someone I want to have sex with, or a monster in need of a serious death sentence, then you'll know exactly what to expect when you see it."

Tori was dumbfounded yet again. Her new partner in the world of eliminating monsters continued to surprise and amaze her. It was an odd job set up, Jade would admit. Even though there was an official head of the company, each slayer was allowed their own sort of brand name; a name that could net them a bit of infamy in their region, if they were good enough.

"I have no idea how to respond to that," she eventually said. "So, I'll just ask another question."

"Fine," Jade answered with an angry grunt. "But I swear to God, if you ask anymore after this one, you'll wish that you weren't my partner. A girl can only take so much agitation before she gives in and succumbs to her _urges_."

And with another gulp, Tori spoke. "Why didn't you, or we, whatever… get paid for the spider? I can understand why the big green guy wasn't rewarded, but why the spider?"

"Because it wasn't an assigned kill either." Anger flashed across Jade's face again and she shook her head. "That, and it was a previously unknown creature; something that would have been posted as a capture so that it could be studied for future hunters. Don't be fooled by the Angel in their name, Tori. The Barracks is run by a bunch of ass holes."

Tori didn't answer. She just nodded, afraid to ask another question after Jade's threat.

Reaching behind her and into her same back pocket, Jade pulled out a tiny, black bottle and held it front of her. "See this?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"It's runic ink," Jade explained. She pulled out her favorite marker and presented that, as well. "It's time to get runed up."

And Tori actually laughed. It was a small laugh, more like a giggle, but Jade's cheesy, lame attempt at a joke managed to hit her in the right spot.

"Wait," she suddenly said, however. "You're not going to put them on _me_ are you?"

"Sure am. On both of us, actually."

"Why?"

With another devilish smirk and flick of the eyes, Jade responded with, "You'll see."

Even with Tori's complete lack of prowess with magic, she could still conjure up the right things and actually summon them into existence. Runes, however, were reserved for the select, lucky and chosen few. Tori could never draw a successful rune to save her life. Most people couldn't. Even if they were to draw it precisely to perfection, it just wouldn't work. Similar to the mysticism of people being supernaturally inclined or not; it just seemed random. It did take a bit of magical assistance, however, needing a specially imbued ink, similar to the ink used in casting magic.

A very small amount of people, like Jade, were gifted with the art of Rune crating. But they were just basic, minor runes. An even smaller amount of people were gifted with the ability to make the major ones, such as the one that had been on Jade's bat.

"Don't worry," Jade began to reassure. "It won't be anything as major or permanent as the one on my bat."

"How did you get that one, by the way? That was far more powerful than anything I remember you being capable of."

Jade nodded, and a look of contempt held her expression. She still wasn't over losing the thing. "It was commissioned. Expensive, too. If you want something special like that, then you can order it from the Barracks if you like. They have one of those special rune crafters on payroll."

She paused after speaking, looking down and letting a day dream cloud her mind. "Man," she said with a small smile. "If only I could make ones that powerful."

The look on Jade's face spread Tori's lips into a bright smile. She knew, as well as Jade, that it would be impossible for Jade to ever advance in her rune making skills, so she said nothing. Tori didn't tell Jade to never give up, or to keep trying. Because it would never happen. It wasn't something that could really be taught, or improved. It simply… was. So Tori lifted up a hand to rub Jade's shoulder in support, instead.

"Alright," Jade finally began again after a few moments of awkward silence. She bent forward and grabbed the driver side door handle, opening it as she leaned back into place. "Sit."

With a hesitant breath, Tori obliged. She sat sideways in the seat, her feet hanging out, and decided that she would have to trust Jade. Even though that hadn't worked out well so far this day. Jade's brows lifted high and she made a facial gesture. Tori lifted an arm for Jade to take hold of, and waited.

"Please tell me what this is going to do exactly," she asked.

Jade quickly went to work. She started making precise lines and shapes up, down and around Tori's presented arm. "Well, if it helps ease your mind, they'll heal you."

"Oh, well that's good. I guess."

"Yup."

But the realization of what Jade had said slowly settled in, and Tori's fear returned. "Wait. Heal me from what, exactly?"

And Jade laughed again. "We won't be exercising just yet, Vega."

"How do you mean?"

"We," Jade continued, pausing for a moment to focus on a difficult spot. "Are going to fight."

"Wait, wait, wait." Tori tried to retract her arm, but Jade grabbed at the base, wrapping her fingers around to touch her elbow and held tight, her eyes glaring as they said 'move and die'. "We're going to fight? Why? You're obviously going to kick my scrawny ass, Jade."

After Tori seemed to relax, Jade let go and began with her designs again. "Couple of reasons. I'd like to see how you'd be in combat in general. You know, other than your cute parlor trick where you move stuff. And you'll need to know the brutality that sometimes comes from the job. You haven't seen the really bad stuff yet. Sometimes it'll come down to hand to hand combat and all you'll have is your wits and your body, against things that are probably built to kill other things with their respective bodies."

"This isn't happening," Tori mumbled. "How did I even get into this?"

"Oh," Jade added with a smirk and looking up and into Tori's eyes. "And it'll just be plain ol' fun."

Tori laughed nervously, the heat and fear making her sweat profusely. "So, what exactly will these runes do?"

"Well, for starters," Another pause and Jade was leaning in close to detail a tough spot. "All pain will be numbed to a minimal degree. Your skin will be significantly tougher, and your wounds will heal multiple times faster than normal. Basically, you'll be able to fight as hard as you want without worrying about needing a hospital afterwards."

With another nervous laugh, Tori said, "Yay."

Jade smiled at Tori's discomfort. "But, it'll only last for all of twenty-three minutes before it wears off and your body won't allow you to use it again for days at a time."

"I can't wait for the twenty-three minutes to be up already."

"Do you know any fighting styles?"

"Um," Tori thought about it for a moment, and while she never quite enjoyed that part of her life, she had an answer. "Yes. A little. I went with Trina to a few of her Karate classes, and some kickboxing ones, too."

"Cool," Jade said. "Now forget almost all that you learned."

"Why?"

"Because when it comes down to it, you're probably not going to remember something that you only did 'a little' of. Your body never got conditioned to it. Never got to the point where it would react naturally with the moves you learned. Besides, most of those styles were created to fight other humans. And trust me, a cannibalistic troll won't give two shits that you can take the right stance and give a Karate chop to his neck. Like I said before, it'll end up brutal. It'll be real. Dirty."

"Okay," was all Tori contributed, her voice tiny.

Fifteen minutes later and Jade was standing inches from Tori out in the middle of the large, open field. They were both almost fully 'runed up' and Tori held one arm out to Jade, a cringing look of fear evident on her face. Jade's hand hovered above the arm with the marker in hand.

"You ready?" she asked.

"As I'll ever be, I guess," Tori answered.

"Remember, no powers."

As Tori nodded, Jade marked the final small mark on Tori's arm and then took multiple quick steps backward, giving herself the same final mark. The symbols on both of their arms took half of a second to flash red before they were gone, leaving minor sizzling pain behind; a pain that Tori wasn't at all expecting. But Jade was.

The professional slayer of the two stood strong, confident. Tori yelped an "ouch" and looked up to a smirking Jade.

"Come on then, Vega," Jade challenged. Her arms lifted and she motioned with her fingers in a taunting manner.

It's now or never, Tori thought. She ignored the minor pain and charged. Dirt kicked up behind her and she even stumbled for a second, regaining her footing a moment later and letting some form of a battle cry loose through her lips.

Proving her expertise, Jade moved a step to the side in a flash and kicked her foot out to let the tip of her boot hit Tori's foot. The newbie tripped again, falling face first towards the earth. But before she could fall even two feet, a fist, powerful, cold and pale, collided with her jaw. Blood drops flew out of her mouth, and Tori used language she preferred to avoid.

"_Fuck. Me!_" she yelled. She stumbled forward a few feet and grabbed at her jaw, stopping and shifting the jaw around. It was a weird feeling. The moment Jade's fist collided it felt like what she expected it to; painful as all hell. But, seconds later the pain was numbing, and any displacement caused by the collision with Jade's fist righted itself. And her jaw was fine.

She hadn't noticed it in her battle charge, but the rest of Tori's wounds from all of the magic use had healed up too. Her eyes found much needed clarity and she grinned, wiping up the blood that had trickled down with the back of her wrist.

"You dirty little…" She wasn't afraid to say the word, but felt that her point was received.

"Dirty little what, Vega?" Jade's smile widened and she slowly, and sultrily, took small steps towards Tori. "Come on, say it. I just heard you curse, so go ahead. Do it again."

Tori looked Jade up and down, finally realizing the potential for the situation. They had twenty-three minutes, slightly less now, to tear each other apart. And Tori had a few bones to pick with Jade. She laughed a challenging laugh, and charged again. The fun of it wasn't lost on her either.

Jade wasn't stupid. She didn't try and pull the same maneuver twice, but Tori thought she would. Instead, she let Tori charge and swing. But the girl was slightly off. Figuring that Jade would try and move to the side again, Tori hit to the side and when Jade didn't move, her fist just collided with her shoulder. Jade took the blow and let her smirk turn evil. Another slam to the Jaw and Tori nearly hit the floor again.

Tori, however, wasn't stupid either. She wasn't going to stop and curse and taunt this time. No, she immediately accepted the pain and began to strike again. Her face was three feet from the ground when she was suddenly spinning back in Jade's direction and tackling the girl. Her arms wrapped around Jade's waist, her shoulder slamming into the girl's pelvis, and they rolled onto the ground.

Jade moved with the roll, continuing backwards until Tori's back hit the ground with a loud thump. She continued to roll backward over Tori until she was on her feet again. Standing over Tori, she raised a fist high and began to bring it down with speed in Tori's direction. Oh yes, Jade was definitely the professional here.

But, on instinct, Tori reacted. Her powers sprung to life and just before the fist slammed into her stomach, Tori's hands grabbed at Jade's arm and her ability kept the arm in place. Anger quickly flashed over Jade's expression, but Tori's power was only a brief usage. She used the advantage though, kneeing Jade's side and pushing her to the ground next to her, where she hopped atop her. Her knees landed on either side of Jade and she breathed heavily. Lifting up her own first, she brought it down in Jade's direction.

The fist was caught in mid air. Jade's fingers wrapped around Tori's balled hand and she proved who was the strongest of the two by keeping it there. And then Tori's opposite hand was lifting, and the same outcome played out. Holding Tori's arms above her, Jade' face lit up red with anger. But so did Tori's.

The youngest Vega screamed another battle cry and pushed hard. Jade's disadvantage being under Tori got the better of her, and her strength weakened. Next to each side of her head, Jade's hands slammed down. Tori's fists dug them into the dirt, grinding them and undoubtedly scraping the skin into levels of bleeding.

Through gritted teeth, Jade said, "I said no powers!"

"What can I say," Tori breathed hard, tilting her head sideways for half of a second. "It was a survival instinct. Besides, isn't that a good thing? Using my natural abilities in the heat battle just like any bad guy would do?"

Tori was right, but Jade's anger showed no sign of subsiding. In fact, she felt a pain through her body and her eyes flickered purple. Her strength suddenly increased and she began pushing against Tori's arms. Lifting them high enough, Jade growled and did just as Tori had; she spun them around, Tori now lying on her back with Jade on top of her.

"Jade?" Tori's voice was a whimper of fear. Not fear for her safety, but fear for what might be happening to Jade.

Looking into Tori's big, brown eyes, Jade's anger was finally lessening. Just as quickly as it had come, it was gone, and Jade was back in control. "Sorry," she whispered, fear etching her own eyes.

They were both breathing heavily. It was a quick little battle, but it had managed to take a lot out of them. It also happened to be a side effect of the runes that Jade neglected to mention. So they breathed; silently they breathed and they stared. Their eyes met and Jade's body relaxed, leaning closer to Tori's.

It was the purest of moments. And it felt natural. Tori's arms were pinned above her head and Jade held them there, just looking into the girl below her. Birds chirped and cars sped along in the distance, but they could hear none of that. All they heard was each other.

Jade could see it in her eyes. Tori wanted it too, she just knew it. Those brown eyes said that it was time to go for it, so Jade did just that. She went for it. Closing the distance between their faces, Jade went in for a kiss.

It was halted, however, when Tori blinked, gulped and turned her cheek. She bit the side of her tongue and looked off and away, clearing her throat again.

But she was getting closer, Jade knew. Her original theory was starting to feel sound. It was only a matter of time. So, despite Tori's continued rejection, Jade smiled. She lifted off of Tori and helped her to her feet.

Tori cleared as much dirt off of her clothes as possible. And to Jade's surprise, Tori's fist slammed hard into her jaw. The fight began again, and Jade was proud already.

* * *

**Awesomer note: **_As I said before, I truly enjoyed the biscuits out of writing this one. I really hope that it showed. _

_So a huge thanks and appreciation is in order for those of you that like this story and that keep leaving reviews saying you think it's awesome so far._

_I love you guys._


	6. Chapter 6

_The Breaking and the Broken_

Tori's back hit the van with a loud thump. Her breathing was heavy and a small smile played with her lips. Jade stopped in front of her, though a bit to the side, and had to place her hands to her thighs, bending over to catch her breath as well.

The girls' clothing were significantly more scarce than what they had worn when they began. Tori's shirt had been removed to reveal her dark sports bra and her hair was tied in a ponytail. Jade no longer wore pants, finding it far less likely to sweat in a pair of short shorts. She still had a long sleeve top on, though, but it was low cut and hanging down one shoulder, containing a large red symbol of a band that Tori would never listen to on the front. Her hair was also in a ponytail.

"You weren't kidding," Tori began. Her head hit the hard surface behind her as well and she sunk down it a few inches. "That was intense. Do you do this all of the time?"

With a light shake of the head, Jade answered. "Not really." She finally stood straight up again and approached Tori. "It's kind of hard to do some of that with just myself, you know?"

"Cat doesn't do this with you?"

Jade scoffed just as her back also hit the van. "Are you kidding me? This is Cat we're talking about. To be honest, I hardly ever even know where she is. Half of the time she doesn't even show up to a job."

Tori's head slid around to look at Jade. But the girl didn't look back at her, instead staring off towards the building in front of them.

"Then why do you keep her around? Why pay her for something she only halfway does?" she asked.

"Don't worry about it."

"Jade," Tori sighed. "What happened to the girl I just saw?"

"What is that supposed to mean?" Jade finally turned to Tori, but anger lined her vision and Tori didn't like it.

They had been in Jade's secret place for nearly two hours, sparring, running and going through many different workouts that Jade had observed. Apparently, she had many videos of various workout routines at her home and picked out random parts that seemed to work best for her, and she just combined them all together. It mostly consisted of some sort of combative flow, however, with punches, kicks, sprints and anything else that might possibly be used to strengthen ones reflexes. That, and she still hadn't told Tori about the gym across form her apartment that she frequented.

With a whine, Tori said, "Well, you seemed so much more free doing… whatever that was. You seemed happier and more open. But the moment we stop, and actually have a conversation, you close off again."

Of course, Jade could never even remember the names of all of these moves. She simply held them in the back of her mind and pulled one randomly out whenever she felt like, never actually putting together a proper routine, and especially not naming it. She pushed her body to and beyond its limits any way she could and once she could barely move anymore, like now, that's when she knew she was done. No timeline, no step one, two or three.

It was easily her favorite part of the day. And there were quite a few things that she always wanted to do but could never convince anyone to come along with her. There had been a few one night stands that got clingy and demanded an actual date upon waking up the next morning, and each and every time, she would simply take them out to the field to participate. They went running rather quickly. She had always wanted someone to actually fight with; someone who would fight back and actually give her some sort a challenge. While Tori had easily gotten much more of an ass beating than Jade did, the girl still landed a blow or two, especially in the beginning before her stamina diminished.

"Yeah, well… get used to it." Jade lifted off her own car and folded her arms, speaking with only a slight trace of shyness. "If you want to see that side so badly, then I suggest you don't skip out on days like this."

Tori's smile came back and even grew wider. "I won't, then."

Jade had seemed just so happy. Before their runes had worn off, during the initial fight, Jade had actually been laughing. It was a serious test of skill and prowess, but they didn't take any punch or kick in anger after a while. Tori could have sworn she even heard a giggle or two as they playfully destroyed each other's bodies. It was a bit sadistic, and oddly sexual sounding, but Tori would take a smile from Jade anyway she could get it.

Once the magic scribbles had worn off and Tori was over her headache, they still sparred, just not with actual punches to the face any longer. Tori's headache was only a mild one, though, and either she was getting used to her new found increase in power, or the runes had worked to counteract that, as well, she figured. The girls had even raced, and Tori managed to win. Her legs were longer and she seemed to be made for running. Jade didn't mind. Watching those muscles of Tori's ripple ahead of her was an enjoyable sight.

They had lost track of time and only decided to take a break when Tori said she could barely walk anymore. So they took what felt like an eternity to walk back to the van.

After their conversation, they fell into a silence. Jade wasn't quite sure what to say in response to Tori and she instead chose to pull a bottle of water out of her Void pocket, tossing it to Tori. The newbie slayer fumbled to catch it, almost dropping it before smiling back at Jade.

"Wow," she said. "How is this thing still freezing after it's been with you all day?"

"The Void's cold, apparently," Jade answered, thankful for another topic to be discussing. "You should try feeling metal things when I pull them out. They nearly stick to your hand."

Tori just nodded and said, "Thank you," before taking a huge swig of the water. She downed almost half of it before she tossed it back to Jade, where the veteran finished it off.

Jade's head was tilted back as the last drop dripped into her mouth. When her head came back down, she caught a glimpse of something far in the distance, in the direction that her van was facing. "Tori, look," she said. She pointed towards what her eyes had caught and Tori slid back up, turning to look with curious eyes.

A figure. It was too far off to reveal very many distinguishing features, but it was definitely humanoid. The only thing that they could make out was that the person was hooded, and seemed to be facing them. It was standing in another string of abandoned buildings that slowly moved back into occupied society, right in the middle of a smaller parking lot.

"Is that fucker watching us?" Jade's voice was nearly a yell and her muscles tensed, instinctively preparing to fight.

"Kind of hard to tell," Tori said. "They're too far off. Whoever it is might not even be facing us."

"Why would they be just standing there, though?"

Before Tori could even answer, the figure started to move. It's body turned, enlightening the girls to the fact that it was definitely facing them, and started to slowly walk towards the closest small building to it. Both girls watched as it disappeared. They watched for a few minutes, catching breath and getting their energy back, and the person never reemerged.

"Strange," Tori spoke first. "And maybe it's just a coincidence, but… Iggy said there was a person on the building across the street from mine, looking at my place before it lit on fire."

"Seeing the things I've seen, Vega, there are no strange coincidences like that." Jade's posture finally relaxed into a position that was less "ready to attack" and more at ease.

"You think so?"

Jade scoffed. "I know so. If you ask me, there's someone watching you. And either they don't like you very much, or they had a very serious hatred for your apartment." With another one of those giggles Tori adored, Jade added, "You didn't steal it out from under some witch, did you? You might end up a squished toad."

Tori laughed sarcastically and her hands tucked under her arms. "Very funny, Jade."

Jade laughed and her gaze found the ground at her feet. Her smile was huge for a moment but soon fell into a smaller, more contently happy one. She took a small amount of flesh inside of her mouth between her teeth as she stared. And Tori watched her. It was a strange sight; seeing a girl go so quickly from anger to happiness. Jade's eyes slowly came back and they met with Tori's, and more awkward silence was had.

With a quickly growing smile of her own, Tori finally said, "So, now what? Are we done, or what?"

"Sure, why not." Jade answered. She watched Tori as the girl nodded and brushed the hair out of her own face, going around to her side of the car. Jade followed behind, deciding that it was just as good of a time as any to make another move, and Tori opened the passenger door.

Tori grabbed at her discarded clothes and her cut-offs slid up her legs and onto her body first, and when they did, Jade was already behind her. Jade chewed on her lip and took in the sight of Tori's body. Her long legs, glazed with sweat and glistening from the sun's light, her back that was nearly completely bare, giving off the same glisten. And then there was the neck; Tori's tan neck that just ached to be kissed and nibbled upon.

Tori knew her new partner and boss was behind her, but couldn't for the life of her figure what to do or say about it. So she just grabbed at her shirt, instead, and lifted it in front of her, preparing to put it on. Before she could, however, Jade's hands slipped lightly onto her waist, slowly dragging its fingers across her flesh. The hands finally stopped, holding Tori's hips in place. And Tori's eyes closed. She still wasn't sure how to react, a combination of being tired and sexually frustrated these last few months and found herself succumbing to Jade's advances and enjoying the touch of another human. A harsh breath escaped Tori's lips and she switched to autopilot. Her head tilted sideways to give Jade's room and soon enough, she felt lips press to her neck. She knew she shouldn't let it be happening, but her body told her that it should. From a girl or not, Tori's body craved the intimacy. As one of Jade's hands slid up Tori's front, she moaned. Jade came to fondle a breast, and Tori was nearly ready to give over control completely.

The kisses continued. Tori's own hand found a home on the back of Jade's head, as if she were holding it to her neck. The hand left her breast and had apparently decided that it wanted to explore Tori's legs instead. It dipped in between and took a large portion of Tori's inner thigh in its grip. It let go and then rejoined the other back on Tori's hips, but slowly sliding downward. Jade's fingertips breached the shorts as her opposite hand wrapped around Tori's stomach, holding their bodies pressed together.

It was an act that Jade had performed many times in the past, especially with girls. It took time to find the right ones that would fall into it, searching for ones like Tori who longed for someone else's touch. But in her experience, they all had a certain point where they would look beyond the fact that it was homosexual and accept their fate.

Tori, however, was not at that point. Jade's fingers brushed dangerously close to her most private of areas, and it snapped her out of whatever trance she had fallen into.

"Jade! Stop!" Her tone was powerful, but her voice no more than a hoarse whisper. She took her hand away from Jade's head and pulled away, ducking most of her body inside of the car and out of Jade's grasp.

And Jade backed off as well, but not even a foot away. Her face struck anger and her jaw clenched. "Why? Tell me, Vega, why should I stop when you clearly wanted it, too?"

"Because!" Tori replied. Her one word argument was accompanied by a distraught look as she pulled her shirt to her chest, as if hiding her bra covered breasts from Jade in some form of security.

Jade growled. "That's a stupid answer and you know it!"

Tori decided not to be angry and instead closed off her emotions the same way Jade was so fond of doing as she sat down in the car seat. "Can you please just back up?" she said calmly, avoiding eye contact.

With a sigh that slowly turned into another, deeper growl, Jade said, "Whatever," and backed up another two feet.

Tori quickly reached for the door, twisting properly in the seat and closing herself in. Her shirt came back on and her elbow leaned into the door beside her, burying the side of her head in her hand to avoid catching a glimpse of Jade out of the corner of her eye.

Jade just stared. She stared at the girl sitting in _her _car looking at Tori through _her _window. It wasn't even that much anger, because she knew that Tori was getting closer and that if she would just back off a little, then Tori would more than likely come around eventually. But that tiny spark of anger; that tiny spark that erupted from sexual frustration and being uncomfortable with herself, was just enough to wake the best. She felt it rising quickly and had to close her eyes tight and ball her fists even tighter to even have a chance at suppressing it.

Tori was continuing to ignore Jade, and she knew it had only been a few seconds, but to Jade, it felt like an eternity was passing alongside her. She searched for any thought pleasant enough to tear away the anger, so she thought of Desiree. Not because the girl made her happy in any way, but because she simply had that aura about her; that aura that just made things better. And then it did. Surprisingly enough, just thinking about Desiree's enlightening effect brought Jade down from her angered high.

Her anger was coming quicker and quicker with each day, and she knew that it would have to be dealt with soon enough. Whether the person dealing with it would be Desiree or Tori, she did not know. Either way, it scared her beyond belief.

She took a deep breath and slowly opened her eyes again. They opened to find Tori's hand falling away from her face as she leaned forward in her seat. Her eyes were squinting and she was trying hard to figure out what she was looking at. So Jade followed her vision. She followed it to the same building that the strange figure had disappeared into, and found it standing there again. Jade squinted her eyes as well, noticing two smaller things standing next to it on both sides. They were just taller than where the girls figured the person's knees would be and they were certainly not humanoid. And then they started moving.

Jade's instincts instantly kicked in as she stood firm, alert and ready to fight as whatever had stood next to the mysterious figure bolted forward, towards the girls at a fast pace. The pavement between Jade, Tori and the figure was covered in dirt, having not been tended to in some while and it kicked up in small clouds under the approaching things. Getting closer and closer, it became apparent they were some sort of animal - canines, probably - but much more broad shouldered than any average dog. No, these were bigger, more muscular and their teeth were the first things noticed Their monstrous growls came second.

Upon realizing that these things were no ordinary dogs and posed a serious threat, Jade made as to pull her bat out of the Void. She quickly remembered that it wasn't there, cursed under breath and took a mental note to find something useful to fill its place later. So, instead, she decided to pull out something she hadn't used in quite some time, having found the bat to be so much more fun. That, and the Barracks frowned at its use and had even lectured her on how it was one of the things that they disliked about her methods, passive aggressively telling her not to use it _or else._ The handgun formed in her hand and she prepared to fire, smirking as her cocky attitude told her that she was going to win this fight before it even began. She always kept it cocked, full of ammo and ready to fire. Or so she thought. It was quickly realized to be completely solid, kind of like a wooden gun, but made of metal. And there was no trigger. Her own ability had failed her again, right in the middle of combat.

Cursing aloud this time and putting the useless gun back, Jade turned on heel and kicked off towards the back of the van.

These dogs were fast. Just as Jade's hand touched the handle of the backdoors, they were already in front of the van. Their hair was thin, silky looking and in patches against their mostly bare skin, as if it hadn't completely grown throughout their bodies. All of the exposed flesh was a mute red color and their fur black, tinted with deep red. Adding to all of the red, their eyes were glowing brightly with the color. The teeth they bore could no doubt shred through two adult woman, and their drool didn't help to relieve that thought from Tori's brain.

Tori froze for the quickest of seconds, scared because the beasts had their sites on Jade, until her already proven slaying instincts kicked in and she reacted. The dogs separated upon reaching the front of the vehicle, going around each side. One took the direction that Jade had been standing in and the other went the opposite. But before the one passing where Jade had previously stood could get very far, Tori pulled the door handle just enough to unclick the lock and she pushed; she pushed with her powers, not her hands. The door jerked open quicker than it ever had before, its metal screeching as it slammed into the dog's face, almost coming off of its hinges. The beasts were proven to have some sort relationship to normal dogs as it let out the universally known sound a dog makes when it gets hurt. It was the sound that most people would immediately feel empathy for upon hearing, hoping to whatever they hoped to that the animal was alright.

Somehow, neither Tori nor Jade felt bad hearing these particular things squeal it.

Tori simply had no time to feel bad as the pain slammed her head, much harder than it had earlier and utterly confusing her. The thought that the runes had been the factor in reducing the pain previous became sound, but it was the fact that this one had hurt far worse than any other time that baffled her. It also disoriented her, making it hard to focus on anything as the world spun in front of her. It felt like what Tori had always imagined a high caliber rifle going off next to her ear might feel like, but also having the butt of the weapon slam into her head at the same time. She couldn't even hear her own painful shriek under the muffling noise of the ringing in her ears. This rush of unpleasant feelings barely took a few seconds, but to Tori, it felt like an eternal hell.

And Tori's scream was the deciding factor between Jade getting the back doors open or not.

Jade usually prided herself on keeping a cool and collected mind in the thick of things, but this time was different. With a slight jerk of her head in Tori's direction, worry struck her expression and it distracted her for just the perfect amount of time.

One of the monstrous puppies came barreling around the vehicle to the left, stumbling in its turn but making it none the less. It leapt at Jade and she had only enough time to pull on the door that her hand was already touching. Luckily, she had already unlocked it earlier and it opened halfway, hitting the thing, giving the beast something in common with its twin on the other side of the van. But the door hit Jade too, knocking both of them to the ground. Once her back hit the pavement, Jade took advantage of the momentary disorientation the dog felt from the door's impact and she tried to pull her gun out a gain, just as the thing fell on her side and rolled off, back onto its feet.

She had almost no knowledge about guns, only pulling this one off of the corpse of a vampire who had gotten a bit smart with its fighting tactics. It was mostly because the Barracks preferred the ways of old; quieter, basically. And while Jade could use a silencer, probably, she also preferred the more up close and person approach. It usually left her feeling far more satisfied with herself, as if she had accomplished much more than she would by pointing and shooting. That, combined with her less than perfect standing with her Angelic bosses kept the gun in her pocket as back up. And now seemed the perfect time to draw it, especially since her bat was gone and her muscles weaker; another side affect that the runes on their arms would leave for an hour or two. A side affect Jade neglected to mention until the runes had worn off.

Jade's precious runes were powerful, yes, but the majority of the ones that were used for human enhancement came with a negative price, as well.

Jade twisted her body on the hard ground, kicking a foot in the recovering things direction as the gun flashed back into existence in her right hand. Finally up close, she could tell that these were certainly no normal dogs. But, unlike Tori, she noticed something else as her foot connected with its face. Two things, actually; first, it was a male with all of the right dangly parts, and second, there were two small pointed shapes at the top of his head. They were covered in hair, but were undoubtedly in the shape of two tiny horns.

The first and only word she could think of to describe these things was _Hellhound. _

She immediately didn't care about rules and regulation, as if she ever truly cared in the first place. No, these would not be subdued so as to be studied. If she was right, then they were from a place of pure evil. It was a feeling that struck a little too close to home and she knew they shouldn't be allowed to live.

The thing barely felt any pain from Jade's foot. It might have, but she was weak and starting regret her decision to do this with Tori at that particular time. So it bit. His head only reeled back an inch before it was chomping away, moving forward as his teeth wrapped around Jade's ankle. But Jade didn't scream in pain. Instead, she growled a hoarse and angry noise, lifting her other leg and giving a mighty battle cry as she pushed it as hard as she could to get it away from her foot. And for once, her anger assisted her. The dark power within her surged and her muscles reacted, kicking the thing in its side as an audible crack was heard. It let go and finally yelped a similar noise to the one its fellow beast had made.

Glancing only slightly to the right in her flailing struggle, Jade noticed the other hound near Tori's door. Only her shoulder and head were exposed to the thing, but it didn't matter. It was focused on Tori, and it was obviously ready to pounce inside of the door.

It had only been half of a second prior that Jade had broke a rib on the monster when she reacted again. Fueled by motivations to stop both of these things before they could do anymore damage, she leaned up a few inches, bringing the gun down in front of her to stop at her hound's face and she squeezed the trigger.

_Bang._

Hellish or not, they were certainly not undead. Jade's beast went limp after the bullet passed through its face, splattering small amounts of blood onto her face and clothing and falling to the ground at her feet. She didn't even give herself enough time to try and figure out what Tori was doing inside of the car, instead laying back down with a quickness to see the other dog. Her gun hand extended in its direction and she fired again.

_Bang. Bang, bang, bang._

The first shot had connected, but the Hellhound kept going. So she fired again, three more times until it wasn't moving any longer.

And then it was quiet again.

With another growl, Jade stood up. She found that those teeth had dug into her flesh and realized that she must not have felt all the pain in her adrenaline rush. Her ankle hurt, even feeling as if it had been twisted in the thing's jaw grip. She hissed in pain and contemplated kicking the dead thing for good measure, but decided that it would probably cause her even more pain to do so. While looking at it, however, she noticed something else around its neck. A necklace, it was. They were dog tags, and she bent down to grab them, yanking the chain broken and pulling them to her as she stood back up.

Tori climbed out of the van a few moments later. She was swaying slightly, finding it hard to get her balance and the sun was far brighter than she remembered it being. And the multiple gunshots hadn't helped her situation, either. Everything only seemed to make it worse, but the initial impact - or whatever she would decide to call it later - was over with and she groaned. Fingers from her hand pressed tightly to her temple and she only managed one eye open, that pesky sun overwhelming her.

"Did we win?" Her only open eye was on Jade as she asked the question.

But once she noticed Jade staring into something in her hand, limping towards her with a shocked and hurt expression, Tori said, "Jade?"

Jade stopped at Tori and grabbed the girl's free hand, opening the palm and placing the dog tags in it. Tori looked at it with her one eye and once she was finally able to make out what it said, she looked back to Jade.

"Brax?" Tori asked. "Wait, wasn't that the name Beck gave the dog you got him in high school?"

Jade looked to the hound and noticed that there was no necklace around its neck as well before answering Tori. "Yes, it was. And those are the exact tags that he wore around his neck, I can tell."

"Then what does this mean?"

"It means that these weren't mean to kill us. We were meant to kill them. It means someone is trying to fuck with me by sending some sort of sick message. Trying to remind me about Beck and…" Jade's words trailed off and Tori noticed a single tear form at one of her eyes.

But she did not shed another tear. Her eyes flicked in the direction of where the mysterious figure had last stood and she started marching towards it. The figure wasn't there anymore, as she figured it wouldn't be, but she was determined to find some answers.

"And what, Jade?" Tori said, quickly following behind her and trying her hardest not to whine about the pain in her head.

Jade looked slightly over her shoulder and answered her partner. "And your nose is bleeding. Profusely... And you owe me a new door."

**-S-**

Stepping out of the bathroom back at Jade's place that was safely usable without drawing the girl's wrath, Tori heard voices. The bathroom sat down a hallway that branched off of the main room and she couldn't even see the living rooms' occupants yet.

"I will not kill you," she heard the familiar voice of Iggy begin. "No, not like the rest of these wenches. When I am one with flesh again, you will be my queen. You will be the only one not used solely for sex and reproduction, but for my gaze to fall upon your beautiful visage as often as I like… And _then_ we would have the sex, of course."

Tori stopped just at the edge of the wall, still before she could see anyone and smiled as Desiree's voice was second to be heard.

"I might usually be disgusted by a comment like that, but since it's probably the nicest thing that _you _could possibly say, I will just say thank you. I think," she said, and Tori could just feel the woman's smile.

Tori was still rubbing the wetness out of her hair with her towel and even prepared to finally move around the corner and into the room. But then she heard two more voices, and the curiosity as to what they might say without her around halted her movement.

"But I didn't mean to, Jade!" Cat said. Tori figured that she, and probably Jade, must have been coming from the kitchen because their voices were farther off and not a part of the little conversation she had first stumbled upon.

Jade's voice was angry, still upset about the days events. "You never do, Cat. You never do."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Cat's angry voice asked.

Tori heard a sigh before Jade was answering the redhead… or whatever her hair color was at the moment. "Nothing."

"No!" And Tori was shocked. The rejection had come from Cat, but it was with such a dark tone that she was questioning her own ears. "You think I did it on purpose! You always do! But I didn't. Now, _apologize!_"

"Cat…" Jade began, pausing for a moment. "Just calm down, alright? This isn't you, remember? I know you didn't do it on purpose."

Tori listened intently. It got quiet after than, and the silence remained for many moments.

"You're right, I'm sorry." Cat finally said, her voice back to normal.

Finding that she didn't like snooping anymore, especially when she heard strange things like that, Tori came around the corner. "So, what are we talking about?" she asked when everyone looked to her. Everyone but Jade, that is.

Cat perked up upon seeing her old friend again. "Oh, I just broke Jade's coffee maker. Apparently I'm stronger again today."

Tori offered an apathetic smile to the girl, not even questioning how she could have possibly broken the thing. "But, Cat, shouldn't you have noticed that based on your hair color today?"

"Yeah… but I forgot."

"Of course you did." Tori meant to say it under her breath and she did, but Cat wasn't ordinary and still managed to hear it.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she nearly yelled. But as soon as she did, Desiree's hand was on her shoulder and all anger within the girl disappeared as she looked into the Angel in training's smile.

Tori mouthed an "okay" before turning to Jade. "So, I called about the apartment."

"And?" Jade said, finally looking to Tori with crossed arms.

"You were right. Everything's fine now. I can move back in anytime." Tori took a deep breath, looked from Desiree to Cat and then back to Jade. "I'm gonna pack my things tonight. My whole entire garbage bag, I mean."

"What? Why?" Cat shrugged Desiree off of her shoulder and took steps to occupy the space between Tori and Jade, frantically looking back and forth to both of them.

"Well," Tori began. She offered another smile, the best she could manage, and then continued. "I'd say it's about time. And I don't want to take up anymore space anyway, so…"

As Tori finished speaking, Cat's attention landed squarely on Jade and she took a step towards her, her voice rising in anger again. "You did this, didn't you?"

"Cat, It's okay. Really, it is," Tori said.

Bur Cat completely ignored Tori's words. "What did you do this time, Jade?"

It was shocking to Tori. She had never seen this side of Cat before, not to this extent at least. Not only that, but she had just got her head to stop hurting and the bleeding to stop flowing, and Cat's raised and shrieking voice was starting to give her another migraine.

"Nothing!" Jade argued. "She's the one that wants to leave. I'm not exactly sad about it, but it's her choice, Cat."

Cat's hair was darkening and Tori just knew that this was not the Cat she remembered.

"But _you _did something! I know you did!"

Desiree took slow steps towards Cat and Jade continued to argue. "All I did was come on to her a little! I wouldn't have done it if I didn't know she wanted it, too."

And then Desiree was finally inserting herself into the conversation, stopping next to Cat again and sighing as she said, "Jade… Did you ever think that coming on to her so strongly is putting her off? I don't mean to speak for you, Tori, and correct me if I'm wrong but, she doesn't want just sex, Jade. But that's _all_ you want. So it doesn't matter if she likes you too, because she wouldn't actually have you in the way she would prefer."

Tori stood speechless. She couldn't figure out if Desiree had told the truth or not. And they were _her _emotions being discussed. So she just stood, watching and waiting for Jade's reaction. But it didn't come. Instead, Cat blasted out again.

"That's her problem, Des!" Cat's hair was growing darker, just as her voice somehow grew deeper and far less childlike. "She doesn't think! She's selfish and doesn't care what other people want as long as she gets what she wants."

"Cat," Tori finally said. "It's really not a big deal. I'm Jade's partner now, so I'm sure you'll see me on a regular basis. There's no need to get so angry."

"Yes, there is! Because…. because there is!" Cat's hair finally reached the blackest of blacks and her voice was nearing monstrous. She breathed heavily and the faintest of growls escaped through her throat.

"Des!" Jade shouted.

"Yep," Desiree answered. She placed a hand on Cat's shoulder, spinning her around until they were facing each other. Quickly dashing forward, her lips pressed to Cat's. The angry little person's shoulders relaxed and her hair returned to her most common bright red color in seconds, her anger dissipating.

Tori knew that she was fast when her hair got darker, but she had never seen it go black before, let alone accompany such an angry and deep voice. There was definitely something off about the whole situation.

The quick kiss broke and Desiree began to lead the newly calm girl out of the apartment, probably towards Cat's own place.

Jade avoided looking at Tori and instead started to head towards her room with an exhausted sigh.

But Tori had questions. "What in the _hell _was that, Jade?"

"That was Cat, Vega. Get your eyes checked," Jade replied.

"Stop!"

Jade stopped, groaning as she turned around and folded her arms again. "What do you want, huh?"

Tori walked towards Jade and talked on her journey. "That was not the Cat that I know. Something is wrong with her, and you for that matter, and I'm pretty sure you know exactly why and what I'm talking about."

Jade's eyes instantly struck angry and locked onto Tori's as she stepped in her direction, as well. "The Cat that you know?" She laughed an mused and hardy laugh before continuing. "You have been gone for five years, Tori! You don't get to tell me how _my _best friend is supposed to be! Especially when you've only been here for a few fucking days. It doesn't work that way."

"No, this isn't normal and you know it. Not to mention your mood swings. One minute all you want to do is smile and have sex with me, and then the next… you utterly despise me. Just tell me why. Tell me what happened that made things this way."

"You!" Jade yelled. She stopped in front of Tori, pointing at her chest. "_You_ left!"

And once again, Tori was wordless in her shock.

Shaking her head and growling again, Jade said, "We were all a family, Tori. All six of us. In a school full of freaks, _we_ were the freaks. I wouldn't admit it back then, but you were the one that held us together… you with your stupid good nature, always trying to help all of us. And you actually succeeded! I hated you for that, but you helped us all to be better."

"Jade, I…" Tori tried to say something, but Jade interrupted her to continue her rant.

"And then suddenly you were leaving! We were a unit held together by a girl shaped glue, and then that glue was gone and that's when everything went to shit. That's when it happened. _That's_ when I did things that I can't take back!"

Jade was practically steaming with anger. She was in Tori's face now, barely an inch from it and her teeth were clenched as she added, "So anything that you think is wrong now is all _your_ fault."

But Tori stood strong. Instead of feeling scared for herself, she felt sorry for Jade. She felt sorry that she had somehow caused whatever issues plagued Jade and Cat's life. And all she wanted to do was help the situation. "Just tell me what happened. What did you do that can't be taken back, Jade?"

Tori's voice had come out calm and even though Jade actually wanted to be angry for once, she couldn't. It was as if Desiree was still around, keeping the anger from reaching its snapping point, but she wasn't.

"Are you sure you want to know?" Jade asked.

"Yes."

"Then sit down, shut up, and I'll tell you."

* * *

**Note:** _Oh, look. A cliffhanger. Gotta love those._


	7. Chapter 7

**Note:** _This chapter was... yeah, I don't even know how to describe how I feel about it. It was written multiple times and still feels weird to me. But I guess I'm just one of those authors that is never satisfied with his own stuff. Tell me what you think. And it's obviously a flashback chapter, if you couldn't tell from the title._

* * *

_Flashback and Move on_

"_In a school full of freaks, we were the freaks."_

At Hollywood Arts - a school for the supernaturally gifted, disguised as a school for the naturally talented - if anyone were to ask any student who the most popular girl was, or even the prettiest, everyone would say Jade West. It had been that way ever since she walked through the front doors for the first time in her freshmen year. But her popularity came not from a good heart, but from devilish infamy. She was mean, cold hearted and even though she was undoubtedly beautiful, no one dared stand in her way. Jade's feared persona came also from her being labeled as a descendant or relative of some sort of demon, along with her quickly found boyfriend, Beck. And that was exactly how she liked it.

She rode smoothly through nearly a year and half at the school without any hiccup in her preferred ranking in the social status quo, but nothing can last forever.

One day there was a video. It hit SplashFace and immediately caught the attention of thousands of different people of the supernatural persuasion. The video mysteriously vanished within hours of its posting, which was strange seeing as though it contained just a normal girl who was seemingly able to move small objects with her mind. It wasn't exactly a rare to find video on the site and could have easily been faked by anyone that knew how to manipulate video at even the lowest of educated levels. And yet, it had been taken down, but not before a small amount of people had saved the video, which was always bound to happen on the internet.

Jade had seen this video, and while the girl doing these things was very attractive, she obviously had no idea what she was doing and even more obviously didn't even know she was being filmed. There was an annoying giggle behind the camera as it peered through a crack in what appeared the be the girl's room, watching as she was discovering her abilities for the first time. Within days, the attractive and telekinetic brunette walked through the same front doors that Jade had on her first day, and everyone stopped to turn a head in her direction. There were only a handful of people in the world who had the capability to move things with their mind, so for one to end up attending a school in L.A., out of the many supernatural schools scattered across the world, it had quickly become the talk of the school.

Hollywood Arts was proud to have its first and very own telekinetic, and Tori Vega's immense popularity happened almost immediately.

Jade was pissed. She was the only girl to ever have walked in and gained such popularity in an instant, but then this Tori girl showed up and took that title from her. Sure, Jade was still just as high up in the hierarchy as she had ever been, but Tori was a close second and could easily slip higher at any given moment. To further Jade's instant hatred, Tori was a dork. She was a clumsy, under confident dork that had no real power to speak of, yet there she was, attracting the attention of every single other freak in her proximity.

Jade was supposed to be the only one who turned heads as she walked down the hallways, but she now shared that with Tori. Not only that, but everyone ran and hid from Jade and finally had a perfect little angel to run to who was assured to be nice to and comfort them in whatever their fears may be. And to finally put the icing on the metaphorical cake, Tori was relentless in her pursuit in making Jade her friend.

Queen bitch or not, Jade still had her circle of friends. And Tori was welcomed into that group with open arms. From all but Jade, of course. At first, it seemed as if Tori might be interested in Jade's boyfriend, Beck, and Jade used that as ammo for her malicious acts towards the girl. But she secretly knew that she had nothing to worry about. No, Jade had caught the looks; she had caught the stolen glances that Tori would give to a pretty girl every now and then and she knew, she just knew that Tori would never truly set her sights on Beck. She knew because Jade had that same look so many times before and only found comfort in Beck for whatever similarities they held in their DNA.

But with the addition that was Tori Vega, the bond between this circle of friends became undeniable, and they all knew that something special was being had.

At Hollywood Arts, being different was normal. Not in the way that you can express yourself freely and be accepted for it, but in the way that not a single student was human. It consisted of your civilized and domesticated Werewolves, many different variations of shape shifters, naturally born witches and warlocks. Those were the normal; Jade and her friends were the strange and unique ones. Their uniqueness had easily brought them together, despite the different walks of life they all derived from.

Tori was the only known telekinetic within thousands of miles, and Jade and Beck were the badass mysterious "demons" who were feared, revered and respected. And then there was Cat; adorably oblivious Cat Valentine. There wasn't single other student who had a personality like hers, let alone have anything near the randomness that were her powers. The always cool Andre Harris quickly worked his way into Tori's heart, becoming her best friend and showing Jade the wicked ways of rune crafting. Crafting the things was in his blood, of course. Quite literally, being that his blood produced the magical element necessary in making and using them. And last and arguably least, there was Robbie Shapiro. Despite the incident with his puppet coming to life, Robbie talked to another version of himself, literally. At times he was the nerdy Robbie that most people knew and then at others, his body would inverse in on itself, caving in and transferring his face to the opposite side of his body as his back did the same right where he stood. When the shift was a complete, he had no more glasses, his hair was slicked back, everything about him grew a darker color and his personality changed completely, more closely resembling that of Beck's.

They were a strange group, but one that slipped into a sort of family status with ease.

Eventually, Jade got used to Tori's presence. The girl grew on her, so to speak, and the point where it felt weird to imagine her anywhere else crept up on Jade out of nowhere. Not only that, but everything about Tori dug a home in Jade's mind and refused to depart. Maybe it was the girl's defiance, or maybe it was because no one had ever cared for and tried to assist Jade as much as Tori had done in barely a year. But whatever it was, it sparked Jade's first real homosexual feelings. Sure, she had fantasized about being with other women before and had even kissed a few, but somehow, Jade's polar opposite was the first to find a place in her heart; all of the things that frustrated Jade about her shifting in the opposite direction and becoming that which caused her attraction.

She had never told anyone how she truly felt about the girl, not even Beck, but it had ultimately been the reason for their breakup. He could see it in her eyes, feel it in her touch. She didn't long for him like she did Tori and he could tell, slowly realizing that the girl he was in love with didn't feel as much affection for him in return. So, Jade wasn't the one to bring up the subject; Beck was. And in usual Jade West fashion, she simply got angry. The emotions from that argument would always remain, but most of the words exchanged would be forgotten. All but a few, anyway. "Just _move on _and forget about me, Beck," Jade had said. She had to run away from him after that. Seeing the complete heartbreak and sadness in his face proved too much for her to handle and she immediately knew that she had bestowed a feeling in someone that she never wanted to feel herself.

Jade still couldn't find the courage to suck up her own pride and act on her feelings and her misery lasted all of the way to graduation, right up until Tori revealed that she was leaving. Everyone was staying but Tori, and Jade couldn't understand it. They were strong as a unit, even Jade could see that, but for some unknown reason, Tori was running away. Just as she had done when confronted by Beck's sorrow.

So Jade knew it was time to act. She knew it was time to do _something _or Tori could possibly be gone forever.

-S-

Tori hopped her small butt onto a suitcase, trying to get all of her clothes to fit in it when there was a knock at her door.

"Oh, hey, Jade. What's up?" she asked after opening the door. She then turned and headed back to her couch, where she jumped back on top of her suitcase and bounced up and down on it, mumbling under her breath about how she was going to make it all fit if it was the last thing she did.

Jade wanted to smile. It was a sight that should have sickened her, but it didn't. When it came to Tori Vega, there was just something about her dorkiness that struck the right heartstring in Jade's chest. She didn't smile, however, and instead folded her arms in front of that very chest and scowled.

Stopping her bounce, Tori said, "What did I do this time?"

"I thought we were friends," were the first words out of Jade's bored voice.

"Well, yeah, I like to think we are." Tori hopped down off of the suitcase and approached Jade, a bit of confusion in her expression. "But you don't consider us to be, right? Why do you mention it?"

"You're right, I don't. But that doesn't matter right now," Jade replied.

"Yeah, I'm definitely confused by this conversation."

Jade rolled her eyes, once again fighting off her traitorous smile. "If you consider me to be your friend, then why didn't you tell me you were leaving?"

With a nervous laugh from Tori, she was replying with, "Oh, right… that. Well, I just kind of figured that you wouldn't much care. Apparently I was wrong."

There was a silent pause and awkward tension was immediately there to fill the air. Jade eyed Tori, trying to figure how to continue on with the conversation. She was going through a rush of different emotions and was finding it difficult to sort them out and express them in a way that turned the situation in her favor.

"Believe it or not, I do care," she finally said. "I had to hear it from Cat, but I would have appreciated it if you hadn't ignored me when you were telling all of us. You'd think with the things me and you have been through this last year that you would confide more things in me."

"I know, and I'm sorry. I'm glad, though. Really, you have no idea how much it means to me to hear you say something like that, Jade."

Jade finally smiled. The moment her lips curled upward, it was Tori's favorite smile that she had ever seen on the girl's face.

"You know," Jade began, pausing to gather the right thoughts again. "People… will miss you if you leave."

Tori didn't say it, but she noticed the blush in Jade's cheeks. She took in a deep breath and plopped down onto her couch, letting out the breath in a huge sigh. "I know, but… I just… There's nothing left for me here, you know? I don't fit in with this life, and there isn't really anything worth staying for."

"Wait…" Jade's brow furrowed and she took steps closer to Tori the moment the tan girl was done speaking. "You mean you can't think of a single thing, or a single person that's worth staying for?"

Another long and contemplative pause and then Tori was answering. "Sadly, no."

"You're not serious right now." Jade's voice raised and the growing anger was obvious within it.

Tori's head snapped back to Jade and that confusion struck home again. "Why are you upset? This is _me _that's leaving, you know."

"Tori, did I not just say that people will fucking miss you? You have friends that… friends that love you. And you're prepared to just leave them behind? Robbie? Cat? Beck? What about Andre? He's your best friend for God's sake!" The similarities to her situation with Beck wasn't lost on her, and it only served to anger her further, mostly at herself.

"Look, Jade, I just can't see myself being happy here." Tori stood back up and matched Jade's ferocity. She stared the bull in her eyes and didn't let up. "Yes, I'll miss you guys like crazy, you included. But as long as I stay here, I just know I won't be happy. As long as I'm here, this life will be all that I know. I need a fresh start. I need to be somewhere that will allow me to pursue the life I want without people clambering around me for an autograph because I can move a freaking pencil with my mind."

Jade scoffed in response. She shook her head and glared into Tori's eyes. "Out of everyone I've ever known, I figured you would be the one to choose family - yes, I just said family - over your own stupid dreams. Hell, you'd think I would be more likely to be doing what you're doing right now," Jade's eyes gave the slightest of twitches at her own speech. "but I'm not. You know why? Because I accept the life given to me, and I've learned to embrace _everyone_ in it." She almost felt as if she would barf out of disgust for her own hypocrisy.

With a defeated sigh, Tori's shoulders slumped. "I'm not going to argue with you, Jade. You're making a way bigger deal out of this than there needs to be. Can't you just respect my decisions and move on?"

"_Move on_?"

And that's when she felt it for the first time. Her heart should have broken over the situation with Beck, but it hadn't. She had shattered him in a way that scared her more than most things, and now it was happening to her. Jade had an unexplainable attraction to someone she was supposed to hate and that girl had just broken her heart. The first spot of darkness appeared over that heart of hers, and that's when she let it loose for the first time. The darkness was taking its first turn in overriding any logical emotion and replacing it with something else entirely.

"You know, I'm actually glad you're leaving, Vega." Jade did not shed a tear. She did not show her heartbreak. Instead, she showed her rage. "I have no _respect _for those who abandon their family. So leave. See if I give a damn."

Before Tori could get another word in, her front door was slammed and Jade was gone, leaving her completely shocked and standing alone in her own living room.

**-S-**

Jade didn't know it, but what she was currently feelings would eventually come to scare her each and every time it started to surface. Right then, however, it was the best feeling in the world. Ultimately, she hated herself. She hated herself for what she had done to Beck and she hated that she couldn't stand it when her own delusions had made it happen to her as well.

Slamming open her front door and stomping through it, the rage was a welcomed feeling. She felt free, as if it was what she was meant to feel about everything and the more she enjoyed it, the more she accepted it. The more she accepted it, the more the reality of what she was doing escaped her. She picked up her phone and nearly called Tori, but felt something stop her; something unexplainable that would serve as the only relief she would feel for years. So she placed phone calls to Beck and then to Cat, instead. Beck had sounded a bit worried, but eventually agreed to meet with her at her house. It only took Cat less than a minute of convincing.

Jade was giving in to something that she knew she shouldn't be. Deep down, she knew it was wrong. But she just couldn't seem to care. It was as if something was waking up for the first time, stretching its legs and testing the full extent of its capabilities. Maybe it was her age that had awoken it, as if she was coming into some sort of birthright, but she didn't really know or even care at the moment. She was too out of it to notice, but the paint on her walls started to peel and chip off, the cans in her kitchen pantry started to bend in on themselves and most things around her shook, as if they couldn't quite figure out how to stay still while in her presence. Her eyes started to glow purple and the first tiny spark of purple looking electricity arced outward from her. It went unnoticed, but it touched a previously discarded sock.

Jade found that sock two years later, randomly pulling it out of the Void one day and thinking nothing of it, assuming it was just another strange thing her powers had done.

She pulled out two small pictures of her attractive ex boyfriend as well as her just as attractive best friend. She was smiling now, as if the simple act of doing what she was about to do made her happy. Writing the name of a spell onto a small sheet of paper with her special pen, the evil inside of her grew giddy with anticipation.

There were a multitude of spells that were considered to be in the category of "dark arts", as most teenagers called it, and were strictly forbidden to use. Each and every one derived from some place of evil and were known to be quite addictive. The problem was that Jade was good with normal spells, yes, but these darker ones came more naturally to her. And they were usually more powerful when cast by her hands and out of her lips. She had never even used this spell in particular before, yet somehow, she knew exactly how to execute it.

Beck and Cat arrived at her house around the same time, giving each other curious looks, and that's when Jade spoke the word.

"Mine," she said. A dark and laughing little creature formed at her feet and ran to the two, jumping up at them and exploding in a cloud of dark smoke that entered through any hole it could find on the two unsuspecting teenagers. Even Beck's bland expression went slack and Cat's bubbly demeanor died away. Jade lifted an arm and motioned for them to follow with one finger and they immediately did as they were told, completely enthralled by the spell she had cast. Once in her room, Jade crawled backwards onto her bed, enticing her supposed friends onto it with her magical persuasion.

Most people escaped into a handful of different choices when trying to avoid their own pain. Sadly, in the majority of cases, either they would drink an unhealthy amount of alcohol, have senseless and numbing sex, or commit suicide. Jade's darkness had no interest in confusing itself with alcohol, and suicide simply wouldn't be any fun. So, sex it was.

While some clothes had come off and kissing was had between the three, it never got the chance to escalate any further. The farther Jade's malicious act went, the more unexplainable things began to happen. The room grew dim, eventually going nearly pitch black, only lighting up when purplish glowing shapes shot out from Jade every which way. These arcs didn't touch any objects in her room, however, instead curving back and landing on the three teenagers on the bed. But Jade didn't even notice this, none of them did, not for many minutes.

She was controlling her friends against their will. She was forcing them to do something that they didn't want to do and had no control over. And she loved it. Looking down at the two other people falling to her reign, Jade felt true happiness. She was happier than she thought possible, and that's when it happened.

Whatever was left of who Jade West really was shined through and she realized what was happening. She realized how much she was enjoying what she was doing, and true fear took hold. A single tear formed and a quick inhaled breath was had as she whispered desperately, "No."

_Boom._

The room lit up in half of a second and everything was coated in that same ethereal purple. The sound heard was deafening, not even leaving a ringing in Jade's ears. The flash disappeared and she was in complete darkness; the darkest black she had ever seen. And it was cold. Her body was instantly shaking, it was so cold. She felt like she was floating in nothingness, as if she was detached from her own body and was a simple consciousness floating in some unknown sea. There were also the screams. They rang out from each and every direction and there were thousands of them, forming one horrifying sound that struck at Jade's very core. So she screamed back, feeling as if she had been ripped apart for all of eternity in a single instant.

It all happened in a millisecond before Jade was returned to reality, where she fell, along with Beck and Cat, down onto her bed from at least three feet in the air. They were all screaming, but slowly their voices died down. Except for Cat's. Jade had heard herself stop the horrible shriek, as well as another one die down near her, but Cat's still remained. And it was just as horrifying as any she had ever heard.

Jade was feeling like herself again. Whatever had took hold of her actions had vanished, or at least receded, and she was immediately concerned for her best friend.

She could never figure out what exactly had happened that day. Cat had managed to be calmed, but it was obvious that something was wrong; it was obviously that something had broken within the redhead. And Beck. Beck had changed physically. Put simply, he was no longer a man. He became a girl, and while Jade wanted nothing more than to laugh at the unfortunate turn of events, she couldn't help but feel sorrow for causing his transformation. And he never found a way to turn back, as far as Jade knew. She had ruined his life, and he somehow managed to worm his way into the Barracks and they shipped him off to Canada, as requested. His powers had remained and everything else about him and his personality seemed to stay the same. He was just the opposite gender now. He didn't show it, acting cool about everything as he always did, but Jade knew that he resented her for whatever she did to cause the transformation, as well as everything else she had put him through.

But Cat was left with Jade. She had apparently grew quite dumb, even more random, and seemed to adopt flashes of that very anger that resided in Jade herself. Cat lived with only her brother and that boy was far more useless than anything Jade had ever seen. Besides, she felt it only fair that she take care of the thing that _she _had broken.

And all of this happened because Jade was a monster, or so she convinced herself that she was. All because a girl had told her that she was leaving town. Tori hadn't rejected Jade. She hadn't spit her feelings in her face and told her to fuck off. No, she had simply done as people do and leave. So because she was a monster, Jade figured that she would do some good to try and counteract what she knew to be inside of her.

Hunting monsters and ridding the world of her own kind sounded like the perfect way to accomplish that.

* * *

_So did this feel out of place? It didn't shove a wedge in the flow of the story, did it? I know it was a bit humorless, but bare with me._


	8. Chapter 8

**Note: **_So, yeah, this chapter took quite a bit longer to get done than usual, and I'm sorry about that. I've been sick, but mostly I'm just bad person. So, sorry about that too._

_And a friend of mine, SKRowling, has started a spin off of this story! It's... interesting, to say the least, but I (and she) absolutely love the idea for some strange reason. Now, keep in mind that she doesn't actually know what happened to Beck or Andre after what Jade did to Beck, so you shouldn't consider her story to be in canon with this one, but it's still a fun read and I'm so glad she's doing it. So head on over to her profile and check that out! Do it._

* * *

_Firsts_

"I broke them, Tori!" Jade's back pressed to the wall behind her as the pain from her recently twisted ankle got the best of her and she needed relief, and Tori was still sitting on the couch as Jade had ordered. "Both of them!"

Shaking her head, teeth clenched and face red, Jade continued with, "Do you know what that's like? I ruined someone's life, turning him into something he was never meant to be, and I completely fucked up Cat's mind. She doesn't function in the real world like everyone else anymore. She has to have a caretaker at every second, that's why she lives next door to me. I want her here with me, but she refused, telling me she didn't need to be babysat. But to make it worse, I can't even find her half of the time and that scares me!"

"Jade…" Tori tried to interject, but the veteran monster slayer wouldn't let her.

"And that's just the _first _time that whatever is inside of me showed its ugly head. Imagine what it would do if I let it out? I can always feel it, Tori, and it's horrid. It wants you, yes, but not in any way that you can imagine." Jade slid down the wall as she spoke, and even though she knew Jade would not cry, Tori almost started to let the tears flow due to the amount of pain in Jade's expression.

But, Tori simply sat in shock. She wasn't even sure how to digest the mass amount of information being fed to her.

Jade's breathing was quick and unwanted anger was threatening to tear through to the surface as she continued. "Why do you think I haven't kicked Des out yet? Because the Barracks told me to? No, because she can help keep me at bay."

"Jade," Tori gave a pause after speaking the name, testing to see if Jade would interrupt a second time. But the girl didn't, so Tori continued to speak. "Are you sure it's as bad as you're making it out to be? I mean, I know what you did to them is drastic, but maybe that was just a one time thing, you know?"

"Is that really a chance you'd be willing to take? Besides, I know what I feel inside, and I don't want that getting out."

Tori finally stood, taking only a few small steps towards Jade. "I'm really sorry that my leaving caused all of that."

"Don't mock me, Tori." Jade snickered and shook her head again, continuing before Tori could argue the opposite. "I know that it's nowhere near your fault that it happened. It's all mine and I know that. I was just _so _angry at you that night. Look, I'm sorry for saying that it was your fault earlier, okay? I'm a big girl, I can own up to my own mistakes."

Tori offered up a pitying smile and approached Jade. When she reached her, she extended out a hand to press on Jade's shoulder and prepared to sit down. But Jade looked her in the eye, deflected the hand and shook her head. So Tori backed off.

"Tori," Jade sighed, finally feeling the anger subside a bit. "Forget what I said before, I don't want you to leave. Stay for Cat, alright?" She looked away, towards the door and discovered Desiree standing in the doorway, the obvious reason for her dissipated anger.

"I won't come on to you anymore," she finished, speaking to Tori but still not looking at her.

"'Kay," Tori whispered in slight sadness. She gave Desiree a smile and then turned around to walk to her room, feeling as if it the best idea to simply let Jade be for now. On her way there, however, Iggy emerged from wherever he had hidden himself away, standing right in Tori's path.

The little ghost doll shook his head and said, "Humans these days. What was that word from all of the TV shows, girl? Oh, yes, you're all such _drama queens. _In my time, there was no sitting around and wallowing in-"

The wretched voice was cut off as Tori leaned down and swooped up Iggy with a firm grip on his face, shutting him up completely as she took him to her room with her.

**-S-**

The next morning, Tori was abruptly woken up as Iggy was thrown at her, hitting her in the face, and Jade was shouting, "Get up! We got a job, Vega."

"What time is it?" Tori stirred, speaking groggily.

Jade's voice was already moving away from Tori's room, but she yelled loud enough for the girl to hear. "It doesn't matter! Just hurry the hell up!"

Tori leapt up out of bed, not wanting to disappoint on her first real job and simply threw on the same pants she had worn the day before, keeping her pink pajama shirt on and slipping into her shoes as she ignored Iggy's curse filled complaints. She didn't think there would be enough time to put in contacts, so she grabbed her glasses and slid them on her face as she finally exited the room. Jade didn't seem to have had the same problems Tori did, wearing her usual black clad getup, but she was still having a problem of her own. Sitting on the couch, she was taking her time to slide the boot onto her hurt ankle.

"Don't you have any magic or runes that could help heal that ankle, Jade?" Tori asked.

Jade finally got the boot on and sighed in relief as she stood up and hobbled towards the door, speaking over her shoulder. "There is no magic that can heal flesh. You know that, Tori. And any runes that have anything to do with muscles are useless to both of us right now because of the one we used the other day during training."

"Right," Tori mumbled. She quickly pursued Jade, taking a deep breath and wondering once again what she had gotten herself into. Not only did she have to kill monsters, but she had to deal with a girl who believed she would become one of those monsters at any moment, and there were apparently all of these secret rules to the way the world worked. To Tori, it all just seemed like unnecessary complications. But, then again, that was how her life had always been. So why should it be any different now?

For a girl with a hurt foot, Jade kept to the same pace that Tori did on the way out of the building. It was still dark outside, causing the realization that a job could literally be given to them at any time to strike Tori's mind. Once they were in the big van, the digital clock revealed it to be barely past three A.M., and Tori immediately let out a huge yawn upon seeing the time. Jade rolled her eyes at her partner's dorky ways and started the vehicle, taking off in the direction of the kill.

"So," Tori started. She laughed her favorite nervous laugh and fixed her glasses. "What are we killing tonight?"

"Not sure yet," came Jade's quick response.

"Oh, well, is there any advice to give me on my first beast? I mean, I know technically it's not my first, but it's the first official one. Any pointers?"

"Yeah," Jade turned a slow head to Tori and simply said, "Don't die," before returning her gaze to the road in front of her.

"So helpful," Tori replied sarcastically.

The five minute drive to their destination was made in silence. Jade didn't even look at Tori, an emotionless expression on her face. Tori stole as many glances as she could, but couldn't find either of the emotions she had seen the girl use over the last few days. No anger and no smile. She could only hope that Jade was simply trying not to force her away by doing the wrong thing again.

The van screeched to a stop in front of a small building and there were only two other cars sitting in the parking lot; a large red truck and a much smaller black car. Jade hopped out first after putting her car in park and then limped towards one of the other cars, Tori following behind quickly after. As they got closer to the small black car, Tori became aware of another person leaning crouched against it. Their head was peaked over the top and the person was glancing back and forth from the building to the girls.

"What is it this time, Tammy?" Jade asked, reaching the vehicle just after she spoke.

Tammy smiled and looked up to Jade, standing up and revealing her short stature. She was a stocky girl with short hair, lots of tattoos and a few facial piercings to match Jade's own. While not as pretty as Jade, Tori still found the girl's face to be on the attractive side.

"Vampire," she answered. Her smile turned towards Tori and she seemed quite calm for someone who had an apparent vampire problem. "Who's this lovely lady?"

Ignoring Tammy's question, Jade continued her own questioning. "Again? That's the second vamp in over a month."

Tammy gave Tori a good look over, licked her lips and then looked back to Jade once Tori had a powerfully uncomfortable look on her face. "What can I say, Jade? Those beasts are too much for me to handle all by my lonesome."

"Tammy," Jade growled. "I swear, if you're letting these things loose on purpose just so I'll show up, you'll be my next target. I don't care how good you are with your tongue."

"Um," Tori let her voice be known, giving her throat a quick clearing before she spoke up again. "While I love awkward conversations of the sexual kind just as much as the next girl," she pointed towards the glass windows of the building and nodded in that direction. "_That _does not look like a vampire to me."

Standing directly behind a large window, sniffing the air in search of something with its flat, double slit of a nose, was the supposed vampire. But, instead of being the very human-like beings that Tori had seen in the past, this one was hunched over, naked with skin tightly squeezed to its athletically toned muscles. Its bones were pointed at each of its joints and its skin was made up of a mostly clear, but tinted yellow color mixed with spots of red where it held the most muscle. Hairless, tall, lanky, an inch of claws dangling from its fingers on both hands, and an oversized head, complete with dozens of razor sharp teeth and pitch black eyes finally identified the thing as something Tori simply did not feel the desire to fuck with.

"Oh, that's a vamp alright," Tammy said.

Jade and Tammy were suddenly ducking behind the car as the thing's gaze turned in their direction and they pulled Tori with them.

After being forced to her knees, Tori said, "How is that a vampire? I've _seen_ real vampires before!"

"It's a pure breed, Vega." Jade's voice was annoyed, finding herself quickly growing tired of having to train someone. "The most common vampires are made from a virus; a virus that originates from those things. Luckily, these pure vamps are pretty stupid. They're bestial and act purely on instinct like any other animal, and they're extremely rare in most places. Unluckily, they're far worse than the average vamp, tearing their pray into pieces before it eats their flesh and using the blood as a condiment." She finally gave Tori a smile and finished with, "Good luck."

"Wait," Tori started, fear quickly rising at the implications of Jade's words. "What do you mean 'good luck'? I'm not taking it on by myself, am I?"

"Oh, sure, I'll run around and help you with my _twisted ankle!_"

Tori's eyes widened. She hadn't even thought about the fact that her partner would be hindered by her injury. "Well, um, wait… what about your gun! Can't you shoot it to death?"

Tammy shook her head quickly, drawing Tori's attention. "Trust me, sweets, bullets don't do jack shit to those things, or I would have been able to handle it myself."

"Who are you, anyway? And what the chiz is this place?" Tori asked.

"Wow," Tammy looked to Jade who returned her look with a bored expression. "I figured she was new, but I didn't know she was oblivious to every single thing."

Jade groaned. "Tori, this is Tammy. Tammy is like a security guard for this building here. This building here houses the more rare of creatures, mostly to be studied. This is also where some of the captures we will make go."

Tori only grew even more confused. "Then why on earth is there only one security guard who isn't suited to slay the creatures that are being held?"

"Oh, there's usually a whole team of us, trained as a single fighting unit," Tammy said.

Jade sighed to begin her explanation. "But Tammy is a big ol' coward. Isn't that right, Tammy? Now, if I'm right about this time, then this is the third time that Tammy ran away when the thing started attacking her team, leaving them a man short and ultimately getting the rest of them killed when they were relying on her."

"Aw, you know me so well, babe."

"Crap," Tori whined in defeat. "You mean I have to fight something that took out an entire team of trained people by myself?"

Jade snickered. "Hey, I had to fight a moosehead thing as my first. Apparently the guy was visiting from Canada and decided it liked to rampage in our American streets."

"But aren't those easy?" Tori remembered Beck's friend, Moose, who had visited in high school. He was actually part moose and they're generally harmless. Unless they contract a certain disease that turns them rabid, of course. But even then they're just a simple hulking creature charging, easily taken down if a person was quick enough.

"Exactly," Jade answered. "I wanted something truly challenging as my first. I actually envy you right now, Vega. First a big green hulk monster, then a mutant spider, hellhound things, and now a pureblooded vamp? So lucky."

"Hooray for me," Tori stated sarcastically. She made a another whining noise before her expression suddenly lit up, her eyes widening. "Wait! Beck is a girl now?"

"Seriously? You're just now realizing that I said that?"

Tori shrugged. "Well, you just kind of randomly said it and then continued on about how you're a monster. I felt too bad for you to focus on every little thing you said!"

"Whatever." Seeming angry again, Jade sighed while shaking her head. "Stop changing the subject and start slaying. We don't have time for you to be a coward, Vega. Tammy is enough for all of us."

"How do you expect me to go about fighting it? With my bare hands? Because that's all we've trained for so far and this thing is obviously deadly!"

"I seem to recall you using your powers!" Jade yelled in response. "Why don't you just do that again, smart ass?"

"Because I can't! Every time I've used my abilities to a useful level was during a highly emotional state. I can't just turn into a badass like you whenever I please, Jade!" Tori yelled, finally realizing that she was speaking way too loud and that Jade was probably making her do so on purpose to draw the creature to them. Peeking up and over the car to see if her theory was correct, she found out that she most definitely was. It was turned and looking directly at Tori's little head behind the vehicle, and she gulped.

A moment later and the glass was shattering. The vampire charged, Tori cursed repeatedly, Jade stood up and Tammy slid under her car. Tori stood too, finding her bravery and taking a deep breath, mentally assuring herself that she can, in fact, do this.

Turning on her good heel, Jade started to run as fast as she could back to her van, yelling, "Keep it busy for a minute, Vega!" over her shoulder. And Tori simply nodded even though Jade couldn't see her, happy that she wasn't going to have to fight by herself after all. But then she remembered that there was a flesh eating, blood devouring beast charging her way and all happiness faded. Her right hand lifted and she focused as hard as she could on keeping the thing from getting closer. She failed.

It was halfway to her now. But what was wrong? Tori was completely certain that she was in a highly emotional state. Here this thing was, running faster and faster in her direction, on all four limbs now, and it had apparently taken out an entire team of people trained to handle it. And its intent was to eat her. Yeah, she was as scared as she had ever been. She could feel her abilities trying, yes, but it wasn't doing much at all. Maybe it was slowing the thing down, but it was hard to tell seeing as though it was almost to her already. So she lifted her other hand, thinking that using both would somehow increase the effectiveness. It did not.

Tori took a few stumbling steps backwards and yelled, "You couldn't have given me a weapon, Jade?"

Less than five feet from Tori, the monster took a leap at her, suddenly tumbling off to the side as something shot into its midsection. It rolled a few times and a small clank was hear with each turn. Once it finally stopped, Tori realized that there was a long bladed object protruding from it, and that it didn't care at all as the vampire stood back up.

"There," Jade yelled from behind her van. "Have a machete! And go for the head!"

Hearing Jade's voice spurred something in Tori that she didn't think she would be feeling again. But, for some reason, she found herself with those "badass" instincts that she used to envy in Jade within herself when faced with monstrous danger. So she ran forward, kicking off just as Jade finished yelling and going for the vampire. She let loose an energetic growl and flung an arm forward, calling out to her telekinetic powers again. They responded with more power this time, pushing the bladed weapon even further into the beast, but not nearly as powerfully as she intended. She intended to rip the thing in half with it. She would just have to settle for the flinch it made as she finally reached it. Fighting off the minor pain in her head, she grabbed the handle of the weapon and used her ability to help pull it out.

The vampire hadn't flinched in pain, however, and made no indication that it even felt the blade being removed. Blood poured from its wound and his, as Tori could tell that he certainly was now, mouth opened wide in a loud hissing shriek before it lashed out in front of it with one sweeping, clawed hand. It connected with Tori's shoulder and with a painful yelp, she fell back onto her butt, crawling backwards as fast she could.

In her newly acquired position, Tori noticed Jade making her way to them with an identical weapon to the one she just pulled from the vampire's chest. Tori slashed with said weapon and actually made connection with the thing's probing arms, but it still made no indication of pain, only more bloodlust. Glancing frantically back to Jade, finding her fear to creep back in to drastic levels again, Tori noticed the girl throw the blade up in front of her a few feet. When the machete came back down, it disappeared into the Void the moment it touched her hand, and then her hand flung forward and it appeared again, flying through the air towards the vampire much quicker than Jade should have been able to throw it. And the same thing happened again as the vampire tumbled many feet away.

Jade reached Tori before the monster could stand up again and she had to lift her foot up for a moment to give it a rest, but she did as the vampire did and refused to show any indication of pain. Instead, she stared the thing down, inspiring more confidence in Tori and the girl stood back up as well. Once the monster got to his feet again, the machete was shown protruding through his shoulder. His previous wound was no where to be found, having apparently healed already. It roared a hellish roar, saliva and blood spewing out between its many teeth and looking to the moon.

Jade's head turned to Tori and she looked the girl right in her eyes. "I think I know how you're going to kill this thing," she said.

Tori perked up and quickly asked, "How?"

"Well, all you gotta' do is," Jade suddenly stopped talking as her ankle bent towards the ground and she called out in cursing pain, dropping to her ass immediately.

"Jade!"

"Machete!" Jade called. But before Tori could respond in any way, Jade grabbed the weapon from her hand, pulled it into the Void and then flung it at the vampire again, lodging it in its chest and dropping it to the earth again.

Looking back to Tori, Jade said, "_Now _use your powers. Go!"

So Tori obliged, acting instantly and running at the thing again. She extended both arms out in front of her and could feel her mind wrap around the weapons stuck in the vampire's flesh easily. Her powers were somehow kicked into full force and she pulled; she pulled the machete's in opposite directions, ripping them out of the vampire and sending blood spraying in both directions. The chest wound was severe, but the shoulder one was worse, leaving his arm barely attached by muscle and bone. But Tori could already see it healing as she charged, and she knew she had to act fast before he was back to full fighting condition. The weapons flipped through the air, flicking blood like one of those spinning sprinklers. They eventually stopped in an instant, and as Tori ran forward, she pulled her arms back together and the machete's came shooting back at the vampire. Before the monster could even realize what was happening, one of the blades sunk into the side of his neck, the other into his opposite shoulder. And the moment the second one struck home, Tori was upon the vampire, latching both hands onto the one in his neck.

Lifting up to get a grab at the weapon, she felt teeth sink into the side of her left arm, just as she took hold. She yelled out in pain, but did not cower. Instead, her anger surged and she pulled hard on the blade, forcing it deeper inside of him with the aid of her abilities. He screeched and unlatched his mouth from her arm, but he wasn't stopping yet. His claws reached around to Tori's back, where they tore easily through her shirt and into her flesh.

But try as she might, she simply couldn't tear the machete through its neck. The pain in her head was getting the best of her, and combined with the chunk taken out of her and the feeling of small knives in her back, a tear trickled down her cheek and her arms began to shake. Fortunately for her, however, the vampire had the majority of a machete in its neck and down into his chest, easily handicapping him. She gave one last yell of her own and looked the vampire in the eye. Her hands released the weapon and she reared one arm back before launching it forward again, letting the palm of her and hit the side of it. Her hand connected and the bladed thing exploded away from both of them, right out of the monster's neck, taking most of its head with it.

The vampire crumpled in front of her, his claws digging more into her back, eliciting a painful hiss from Tori, before they slid out and fell with him. Tori stood breathing heavily for a moment and then let herself drop to her knees, clutching at her bleeding arm with her unhurt arm, and bringing her bleeding arm's hand to her aching head. She let out a groan as Jade approached.

"Yeah, you really need to stop getting headaches when you use your powers," Jade said.

"Oh, ya think?" came Tori's venomous response.

"I do," Jade responded. "We'll work on it when we train later."

"Uh," Tori made a sad laugh before forming her thoughts into words. "You don't think I deserve to sit this one out after I got torn apart by this thing? I'm not going to turn into a vampire now, am I?"

"Eh, you'll be alright. Just a few scratches that some bandages will take care of just fine. And, no, you won't turn just because he sunk his teeth into your arm." Jade wasn't even looking at Tori as she spoke, and there wasn't very much emotion found within her voice. It was quite off-putting to Tori, especially since the girl seemed to be trying to distance herself as much as possible.

"Did we get it?" Tammy's high pitched voice rang behind them, and both girls turned to see her sliding out from under the car and then start walking towards them.

Groaning again, Tori began to lean forward in hopes of planting her face into the ground below her, but she quickly realized that there was a corpse in front of her. Making disgusted noises, she hopped to her feet instead and mumbled, "Yeah, no thanks to you."

"Blah, blah." Tammy reached the girls and met Tori's gaze, smiling her big smile. "You did fine, sweety. You and those crazy powers of yours. I see why you're Jade's new partner."

"Well, thanks, I guess," Tori said.

"Of course." Tammy turned that smile to Jade, who looked back with a bored expression as she pulled her phone out in preparation to inform the Barracks of the body. "So, Jade, you ready for me usual _payment_, or what?" Tammy scooted in close to Jade and pressed her chest to Jade's stomach, looking up at her and turning that smile seductive.

But Jade continued with her bored expression, looked up to a curious Tori and then back to Tammy. "Nah," she said with a shrug.

"Really?" Both Tammy and Tori said at the same time. They gave each other a quick look before looking back to Jade.

Jade began to shake her head, pulling one the weapons out of the corpse and walking towards the van as she brought the phone to her ear. "You heard me!"

But Tammy continued to pester. "Your hot partner can join us! Come on, Jade!"

Tori said, "Ew" just as Jade yelled, "No!"

**-S-**

"Get up, I want the couch," Jade said.

For the second time in the same day, Jade was waking Tori up. After Tori's first official kill, they headed for the Barracks, where the angelic people were nice enough to stitch up all of Tori's wounds, and awaited confirmation that the vampire's body had been recovered, allowing them to get paid. They did, and even though Tori didn't get the entirety of the thousand dollars like Jade did, she still jumped with joy and kissed her share repeatedly. She was so excited to finally receive a large sum of money that not even her headache could bring her down. But the moment they were back in the van, the pain sunk in again.

Jade continued her emotionless act and dropped Tori off at her apartment before heading out to run some errands she mentioned needed doing. And Tori didn't even feel like questioning her. All Tori wanted to do was sleep, so she did, crashing onto the couch right after walking in the door and attempting to cure her head pain with unconsciousness.

Groaning, Tori sat up and looked at Jade through squinted eyes and the hair in her face. "How long was I out?" She could see light coming in through the windows now, so obviously the day at rolled around, but she still wanted to know.

"Over four hours," Jade replied, plopping down in the spot that Tori's head had occupied moments ago. "I just got back."

Tori's headache was gone, but there was still a pressure felt. She watched as Jade continued to avoid looking directly at her, and slowly began to feel a bit of agitation at Jade's sudden loss of interest in her. She knew that she wanted Jade to hold back with her strong advances, but she didn't want the girl to tune her out completely.

"Jade," Tori stated.

But Jade ignored the girl next to her, digging around for the remote instead.

"Jade!" Tori's voice finally woke up as well, and it boomed, drawing Jade's bored eyes. With a quick sigh, Tori said, "Look, I just want you to know that I… that I cried that night."

"What?" Jade asked, confusion striking her pretty features.

"That night that you last saw me, before I left. You know, when you yelled at me and stormed out. When you… changed Beck and Cat. I cried after you left me alone that night."

Emotion was finally draining into Jade's expression again and she shifted her body in Tori's direction, putting the remote down. "Why?"

"I just," Tori sighed, fiddling with an imaginary nothing in her lap. "There were more than just the reasons I told you for why I wanted to leave. Sure, I didn't think this kind of life was for me. I really did believe that, but… But there was something else."

Jade said nothing, instead staring into Tori's eyes with a questioning gaze, awaiting further explanation.

So, Tori continued. "I might have started to like girls. And at the time it just seemed so wrong. It wasn't who I wanted to be. I mean, we were all freaks as it was. I didn't want to be even more different, especially with how much attention I got. I just wanted to be as normal as possible, you know?"

"But you've told me this whole time that you're not gay."

"Well…" Tori sighed again, letting it form into a small groan before it was finished. "I've still never been with a girl, and I honestly never planned to once I left here five years ago. But once I came back, once I saw you again… the same emotions popped up. Back then, I started to have the stupidest crush on you. And I just knew that even if I accepted my feelings, even if I accepted that I would never be normal, there was still no way in hell that Jade West, of all people, would ever look at me the same way. Obviously I was wrong but, I didn't know that back then. So I figured it would be best if I just left, and let that part of my life stay behind me. And then suddenly you blew up in my face and I thought you hated me after the things you said. So I cried, and I that's when just I _knew_ that leaving had to be my best option."

"Tori," Jade's voice was a whisper. "I don't know what to say."

"Just… stop acting like you have been today. All I want is for you to treat me like your friend and partner. Treat me with respect, okay? Just because I wanted you to stop coming on to me so strongly doesn't mean I want you to ignore me altogether. We can just… take things slower, see how things turn out."

"Wait, so what exactly are you-" Before Jade could finish the rest of her question, Tori was leaning in to place a quick peck on Jade's lips. With Tori leaning away after the brief kiss, Jade found herself baffled. "What in the hell was that for?"

"I didn't like how sloppy our actual first kiss was, so I wanted to do it right." Standing up with a satisfied smile on her face, Tori turned to Jade and extended an arm to her. "Now, can we go train or what? You still have to make me a badass, remember?"


	9. Chapter 9

**Note:** _Okay, again, I'm sorry for the wait for these. I haven't been in preferable moods lately and I've been letting that affect my productivity. Hopefully these chapters are good enough to make up for it, however, and I appreciate your patience!_

* * *

_Happy_

The old door crashed open, splintering in many places, rendering it unable to ever close properly again without extensive repairs.

Drawing her face up in cringing pain, Jade brought her foot back down and said through clenched teeth, "Worth it." She proceeded through the doorway, dried blood covered machete in hand, and gave her full and alert attention to her surroundings as she limped around the empty building. Tori followed closely behind her, looking far less alert, but just as determined.

"I don't think whoever it was is here, either, Jade," Tori said after a few minutes of searching.

Stopping and finally giving her foot a rest, Jade sighed. "You're right. I just wanted to be sure."

They had arrived at Jade's favorite training grounds less than thirty minutes prior and Jade insisted that they do a sweep of every nearby building to see if whoever it was that had sent the hellhounds after them was lurking around anywhere. With the checking of the final building, they found nothing; no trace that anyone, other than them, had ever even entered this one in particular. And this was the building that they had seen the figure disappear into before the hounds were unleashed.

Tori scratched at her recently bandaged arm, finding only mild reassurance that the Barracks had told her no sort of infection would come from the wound. The wounds on her back bothered her more so, however, but only because she couldn't reach around to scratch the itching agitation away.

Jade smirked as she finally let her guard down, Void pocketing the machete, and approached Tori, walking into the same illuminated area of the dark building that her new partner was standing in. "Told ya it would be brutal, didn't I?"

"Yeah, yeah." Tori smiled back and they both began to exit the dusty place. They reached just past the threshold of the door when Tori was speaking again. "What's with the machetes, anyway? Why did we need to use those for the vampire?" she said, eyeing the weapon in Jade's hand.

"Because," Jade shrugged and led the way back towards her van. "You gotta sever their head to really take them out."

"Okay, but why machetes?"

"Didn't you ever watch the show Supernatural? It got just about everything about the actual supernatural community wrong, but they did get one thing right; Using a machete to cut something's head off makes you look like a badass."

Tori stopped walking, looking directly at the back of Jade's head as she shook her own, gave a half smile and then continued to follow Jade again. She jogged for a second to catch back up and then said, "Um, can I ask you another question?"

And this time Jade was the one stopping. She turned to Tori with an amused expression and crossed her arms. "Oh, _now_ you ask for permission?"

"Well," Tori began, giggling away the accusation. "I noticed that you have a pack of cigarettes in your car, but you haven't touched them since I've been here. Do you smoke, or?"

Jade's playful expression fell away and she let eye contact break for a few seconds. "No, I don't smoke. Not anymore, at least. I'll admit, I had one that day you first called me, but other than that I haven't touched the things in years."

A look of realization took over Tori's expression and she found herself at a loss for words. She mentally stumbled over her thoughts and finally landed on something to say, even though it had nothing at all to do with her latest question. Starting with a forced laugh, she said, "Is that lesson number one on the path to becoming a badass?"

"What?" Jade asked, instantly confused.

"Oh," Tori laughed nervously, fiddled with her thumbs and her face turned a bright red in embarrassment. "I was referring to the thing about using machetes to look like a badass."

Jade's face lit up in another smile, and it was an unexpectedly joyous one. "Nice save, Vega," she said sarcastically.

"What?" Tori said, taking her turn at confusion.

"Well," Jade began. She limped the few feet between them and stopped right in front of Tori. "I basically just told you that hearing your voice again racked my nerves so much that I needed a smoke, so you decided to change the subject because you didn't know how to respond to the situation. I guess out of some sort of dorky embarrassment. I'm not dumb, you know. And you're not very good at subtlety."

A blush reddened Tori's cheeks and she dipped her head, brushing her hair out of her face in shy flirtation. "I guess I'm not."

Jade simply rolled her eyes, turned around and continued her stride to her van. Just before the girls reached it, however, she felt a previously unfelt pain shoot through her foot, most predominantly in her ankle, and stumbled forward, slamming a hand into the side of her vehicle for support as she hissed in pain. Tori was on her in an instant, saying her name in worry and causing Jade to roll her eyes again at her predictive nature, even through the stinging pain. But by the time she was standing only on her good foot and lifting the hurt one up, the extra pain had dissipated.

"What is it? Your foot again?" Tori asked.

"Yeah, but it's good now. I'm fine."

Tori shook her head and grabbed at Jade's lifted knee before the girl could drop it back down. "You are not fine, that sounded painful. Now let me have a look at it."

Jade's pant leg was rolled up quickly by Tori's delicate hands and before Jade could protest, her boot was sliding off, not all the way, but just enough to reveal many small gashes left by teeth. Jade growled at the pressure her sliding boot did to her twisted ankle and placed a balancing hand on Tori's shoulder.

"Jade!" Tori scolded. "You didn't tell me it actually bit through your flesh!"

"I didn't think it mattered, Vega. A hurt ankle is a hurt ankle." Jade defended.

Tori studied the wounds, taking note of the redness surrounding the punctures and watching as Jade cringed and hissed when she touched them. They were still tender and even after an entire day of healing, it hadn't scabbed over yet. In fact, it was pussy and gross, in Tori's opinion.

Warping her face into mild disgust, Tori said, "Jade, maybe this is infected…"

"It'll be fine. I've had worse." Jade finally yanked her leg away and fixed her clothing back over her ankle. She stood back on two feet again, trying not to show the irregularity in her stance, and looked to Tori. "Besides, you've got some pretty nasty cuts in your back, too. Maybe those are infected and you're gonna vamp out on me soon."

"No!" Tori protested. Hey eyes followed Jade as she took strides into the open field. "You _and _the Barracks said I would be fine!" But Jade didn't answer, she just smirked and kept on walking, prompting Tori to follow. "Right? Right, Jade? Jade!"

"God, Tori, you're fine!" Jade finally said. She stopped in a random desolate spot and turned back to face a relieved Tori. "Stop being such a baby."

Tori's arms folded and her face pouted as she mumbled, "I am not a baby."

"Yes, you are." Jade watched as Tori perked up and a small flash of anger struck her face. But, before the girl could defend herself, Jade was speaking again, interrupting her. "Shut up. Now, you see that rock at your feet?" As Tori looked down in search of said rock, Jade started to back peddle, creating at least ten feet between them as Tori found it and bent to pick the small chunk of earth up.

"What? It's just a rock."

"And you're just a dork," Jade said. "Of course it's just a rock. Now hold on to it for a second."

"Okay…"

Jade folded her arms in front of her chest. "We need to work on your abilities."

"Okay," Tori repeated. "And how do we do that? I don't think I'm going to be able to train the pain out of my head. Though it does seem to be getting better lately…"

Jade smirked. "Exactly. All you need to do is get used to your newfound levels of power. And what better way to get used to it than by trying to figure out its full potential?"

And once again, Tori said, "Okay… Again, though, how do we do that?"

"Well, for starters, you're letting your powers govern you."

"What?"

Jade sighed. "You're operating under the assumption that your powers are what they are and that's just the way it is, correct?"

"Um," Tori let her eyes wonder in thought before slowly making their back to Jade. "I guess?"

"Well, don't let them do that. You're assuming that you have to obey your power's rules. But it's your gift. It should obey _your _rules. There's probably a multitude of different things it can do." Jade paused, eyeing the rock in Tori's hand. "For example, toss me that rock."

Tori did as she was asked and lightly tossed the rock underhanded to Jade. Jade's right hand extended to meet the rock, open palm as she waited for it to connect. Just as it touched her skin, it disappeared in a faint purple flash.

Jade smirked, speaking again with, "Just like I did with the machetes earlier, as you saw, if I focus hard enough, then I can do…" She let her speech trail off as her right hand lifted up and she aimed it at one of Tori's legs. "Bang," she finally added, the small rock shooting out of her hand much faster than it had entered and slamming into Tori's thigh.

Tori was immediately pulling the leg up to her to try and embrace the pain away as she felt like she had been shot with a giant BB gun. "Ow, Jade! Why would you do that?" she yelled.

"To show you that our abilities aren't always only what they seem to be."

Tori finally let her leg drop down, but she bent towards it, still rubbing at it. She knew it would leave a nasty bruise. "I'm glad you've figured out how to be even cooler, Jade, really. But yours is unique, and there have been plenty of telekinetic's before me who couldn't modify what they can do like that. What makes you think I'll be any different?"

Jade's smirk grew even wider. "Because you have me."

Tori knew what Jade meant by the statement, or at least she thought that she did, but she couldn't help but blush at the possible secondary implications of it. "Alright," she laughed. "What exactly do you have in mind for me to try?"

"Maneuverability," Jade answered.

"Maneuverability?"

"Yes. You know that you can move other objects, even other people, but have you ever tried to move yourself?"

"Myself?" Tori questioned. She raised her arms out in front of her and looked at them curiously as she continued. "You mean like, flying or something?"

Jade simply watched her partner examine herself, shaking her head lightly at the act. "Maybe not flight, but, possibly something simpler. At least at first. Stop staring at your arms like an idiot and try focusing on making yourself move without walking."

Tori stuck her tongue out at Jade's continued insults and then nodded. Her arms dropped to her sides and she closed her eyes, imagining herself moving as she stood still. Nothing seemed to be happening. She felt the slight wind brush at her skin and the hot sun beat down on her, but nothing changed. She was about to give up and whine like she usually would and then tell Jade that it wasn't happening, but her veteran partner spoke up before she could.

"Don't you dare wimp out already, Vega," Jade said.

So she didn't. Tori kept her eyes shut, her fingers tightened into her palm in balled fists and she tried focusing even harder. But this time, her surrounding feelings changed. The sun seemed to get hotter, only slightly, and she could feel the wind around her speed up, especially near her hands. These changes were only slight at first, gaining more difference the longer she focused, but each second also brought mass amounts of pain to her skull. After half of a minute, her concentration broke as she let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding, her eyes snapping open at the same time.

"Jade," she whined. "It's not going to happen. I mean, for one thing, I'm always in a heightened emotional state when it comes out so powerfully."

With a sigh, Jade said, "Then get emotional, Tori. It's not that hard."

"For you maybe!"

"Look," Jade's arms folded again and she took small steps in Tori's direction, slowly closing the distance between them. "Just try and think about the things that were happening every other time you've done it and the emotions that you had."

"Well," Tori thought about it for a moment, letting Jade finally stop within arms reach of her before she let her thoughts loose. "Usually I was in danger, or you were involved and I was completely confused and frustrated about my feelings."

"I'm flattered," Jade said sarcastically.

"Shut up," Tori replied. She shoved playfully at Jade's shoulder and the girl almost stumbled backwards because of her foot. But she regained her footing fairly easily, and Tori just laughed. "Sorry. So, what, you want me to just think of you again?"

"It's kind of hard not to, don't you think?" Jade's smirk was finding a nice home on her face this day.

Tori shook her head. "Jade… I'm serious. I'm already getting a pain in my head, so I want to get this right the first time."

"Alright," Jade's smirk left her home and a genuine smile was invited in, instead. "Think of it this way; every time you've done it before, it's been because of more unsavory types of emotions, right? Well, try and think of something that makes you happy instead of angry, safe instead of scared, loved instead of hated."

"Okay." Tori returned Jade's smile. "But why did you have to get so close to me to tell me all of that?"

"Because you're inevitably going to mess up and fall on your ass, like always, and I'll be here to catch you before you do."

Tori was expecting some sort of insulting remark to avoid her true intentions, but Jade's surprisingly truthful explanation caught her off guard and she found herself blushing yet again. "Well… thanks," she said, smiling, playing with the ends of her hair and nearly biting at her bottom lip.

It was an intimate moment, as far as Tori thought, but Jade was impatient. "Well, start!"

Doing as Jade demanded again, Tori quickly closed her eyes after a mild jump at Jade's outburst. Her lips began to curl up in her focus as she thought about happy thoughts, leaving Jade ever curious as to what those thoughts may be. She felt even warmer this time. The wind was faster. The energy flowed gracefully though her and she could feel it, instinctively opening her fist and letting her fingers spread in the direction of the earth below. And her headache was almost nonexistent. So she pushed. She imagined herself once again flying, and the power surged out through her finger tips.

Jade had to react quickly as Tori's body jolted nearly an inch off of the ground and she was falling forward, right into her arms. Tori's eyes opened to meet Jade's a second later, but Jade wasn't going to let the moment turn into one of those cheesy cliché ones that happen in a movie. So she shoved the girl off of her once her focus was back to reality.

"Told you," was Jade's simple choice of words.

"I did it!" Tori said, continuing the simple word choices. She gained her footing easier than Jade had done earlier and her eyes snapped back to Jade's in excitement. "I know what it is now!"

"Well, speak!" Jade's excitement was obviously over exaggerated, but Tori knew that it wasn't all fake.

"I wasn't moving me, Jade. And it only came out in a burst. Like I had to build it up quickly and then release it towards the ground, pushing me away from it."

And Jade smiled again. "Good. See, maneuverability. That'll definitely come in handy in combat if you can get good with it and do it without going through that whole ritual again."

"Yeah!" Tori's smile was threatening to stretch off of the sides of her face and she breathed heavily, finding that it drained much more of her energy this time instead of inflicting pain to her head. But just that simple difference in feedback caused happiness to flood her emotions, despite the fact that she was bent at the waist and resting her hands on her thighs to catch her breath. "That was awesome," she continued. "Seriously, thanks, Jade. That'll make all the difference if I can keep doing it that way."

Jade gave a nonchalant shrug of a shoulder and let her smirk return. "Hey, what are partners for?" she said, extending a hand out to Tori to help lift her back into a standing position as the girl seemed be slowly dropping closer and closer to falling onto the ground.

But just as Tori went to grab at Jade's hand to accept her help, Jade's phone rang in her pocket and the hand retracted, leaving Tori to grab at nothing as she leaned forward. Finally having felt a bit of trust and understanding between them, Tori stumbled forward once Jade was no longer there to assist her and her arms flopped around for a second before she finally found her balance again. Jade tried not to laugh into the phone as she pressed the answer button and Tori gave a scowl.

"Scissor me Jaded. How can I help you?" Jade said in her practiced and professionally bored sounding tone. "Tammy… Are you fucking kidding me? What is it this ti-" Jade's quickly angered expression suddenly went slack and slowly formed back into that favorite smirk of hers as she listened to the person at the other end. "Jack pot."

Tori watched curiously as Jade cut Tammy off and pocketed the phone again, turning to head back to her van.

"Come on. We got work to do," Jade said.

"Really?" Tori asked. She stumbled forward as she made to follow Jade again; something that she was just then starting to realize she did a lot of. "Do you get two jobs in one day very often?"

"Not usually, but this will be worth it. Trust me."

Tori nodded and hopped into the van along with Jade, and she even managed not to question what this 'jackpot' was for just over five minutes. Jade ignored the question for the most part, smirking her smirk and simply saying that it's probably the biggest rewarding job that could possibly come along. Well, unless they were to save the universe, she had to clarify. Tori somehow managed to resist the urge to question further, figuring that if she wanted to stay Jade's partner, she would have to get used to letting Jade have her fun.

They eventually made their arrival and Jade hopped out of her vehicle quickly and began to loop around to the back. She did her usual rune casting to open the double doors and retrieved the second machete, handing it to Tori as the girl came around as well.

"Oh, come on. More vampires?" Tori whined.

Jade ignored the whine and instead reached in to pull out more supplies. When she came back out, she handed Tori a small jar full of shattered glass and said, "You'll need that, too."

With a sigh, Tori took the jar. "Well, I guess we'll actually be prepared this time. Wait… _I_ need this? Jade, you know if I cast that light spell it'll just backfire in my face again."

Jade closed the van doors, pulled out her machete to double check that it was actually there and then pocketed it again.

Giving a sigh of her own, Jade turned to Tori. "Vega, if you don't try, you'll never do good. I have to submit my analysis of your performance eventually, and I'd like to be able to say I trained you to perfection." She started to walk past Tori, but stopped just next to her, giving quick thought as to how to best motivate Tori into performing to her best. She leaned over and pecked quickly at Tori's cheek, adding, "You can do it, alright?" once she pulled away.

"Kay," Tori said quietly and with a blush.

Stepping through the same window that the vampire had crashed through at the same place that Tori had made her first kill earlier in the day, they entered the building for Tori's first time. A small person peeked her head around a corner towards the beck and then popped out its whole body once it recognized the girls.

"Jade!" Tammy yelled happily. "You're back! And the other badass hottie!"

"Uh, yeah," Tori said. "The name's Tori…"

Despite the fact they were her for a second time; despite the fact that Tori knew Jade was agitated about having to deal with this Tammy earlier, Jade's smile was still present. "So, where are they?" Jade asked.

Tammy nodded behind her and then turned to walk back to where she had come from, Jade following instantly.

"Wait, what in the world are we here for?" Tori questioned.

Yelling over her shoulder, Tammy said, "Babies!" She reached a door and then slowly opened it, making sure not to make too much noise. Strange noises were heard, a multitude of them. It sounded like little screeches and scraping sounds, but looking through the door and down steps, all Tori could see was darkness.

"Babies?" The newest slayer of monsters said.

"Apparently," Tammy began to explain. "The vamp we dusted earlier-"

"No," Jade interrupted. "That _we_ dusted earlier," she continued, motioning to her and Tori.

"Right, whatever. It was apparently a daddy, and that's why it was so hostile and just plain angry. It was guarding its basement babies."

Tori was confused, just as she was the last time she had a conversation with Tammy. "Wait, so these types of vampires are rare to find… yet it was somehow allowed to find a mate and make babies right under your nose?"

"Well…" Tammy started to say.

But Jade continued for her. "It was probably the Barracks doing, Tori. We're pretty sure they experiment dangerously with this kind of stuff all of the time in secret. Why have only two of these vamps when you can have fifteen? Luckily for us, people like us get to clean up their mess when they deny it."

"Fifteen?" Tori's eyes widened and she took a step away from the door. "And, what? They want these things to study? Haven't they been around long enough get all the information from them by now that they need?"

"Who knows. The Barracks has been a bit sketchy lately, I just assumed they finally let some leader who isn't some angelic pansy take over for once," Jade replied.

"Okay…" Tori said, glancing to a very patient Tammy and then back to Jade. "So why is this a jackpot?"

"Didn't you just hear me?" Jade questioned. "I said there were fifteen babies down there. Now, individually, they're probably worth less than half of a full grown alpha vamp, but added all up…" She let her sentence trail off, giving Tori opportunity to do the math.

Tori smiled and finished Jade's thought for her. "Jackpot."

"Now, let's go."

Tammy backed away from the door and lifted a hand to wave at the two slayers. "Have fun!" she whisper yelled.

And into the basement they went. After Jade pulled out her weapon from her pocket dimension, they slowly made their way down the steps, pausing when a creek started to sound, and then continued once they could be more subtle again. They eventually reached the bottom, and Tori could only see a few of them, but there were pint sized, chubby versions of the vampire she had slain earlier scattered around. And they were sleeping.

"It's day time," Jade explained before Tori could ask why they were in slumber.

"Oh, okay." Tori replied. "But where's mom?"

"The babies eat her once they hatch."

Tori's face lit up in disgust. "They eat her? Wait, hatch? Never mind… I don't even care anymore."

"Alright," Jade looked to Tori and readied her machete with a tight grip. "Pour the glass now." She pulled out a small piece of paper and her marker, wrote the spell name with the magical ink, and then handed it to Tori as well.

Tori bent down to empty the glass shards onto the ground, twisting her head around to make sure that the noise wasn't loud enough to wake the sleeping monsters. Lifting back, she looked to Jade and said, "Do I really have to be the one to do it?"

Jade sighed. "Do I need to hold your freaking hand, you baby?"

"That would probably help, yeah."

To Tori's surprise, Jade's warm hand slid under her newly free one and their fingers intertwined. Tori couldn't help but smile, and she almost forgot that there were more than a dozen baby flesh-munchers around her.

Jade rolled her eyes at Tori's continued stalling. "Okay, I know this is wetting your underwear and all, and that's great, I mean it, but they can probably smell that and I would like not to get eaten today. So do the damn spell already."

"Oh, right," Tori said. She reached her machete wielding hand around to pull the paper out from between their embraced hands, holding it with two finger so as not to drop the weapon, and then cleared her throat. She held the slip of paper in front of her and said, "Blinky," with power in her voice.

The glass did its swirling tornado of birth, bringing Blinky to life in seconds, and most of the vampires stirred from the noise. Once it was alive, it let out its annoying laugh and that was all it took to wake the blood suckers from their slumber. Blinky turned to Tori, smirked evil and prepared to jump at her, backfiring again. But, Jade was there to stop it.

"No!" she yelled, and each and every vampire the girls could see turned in their direction. With a quick and light kick of the foot, Jade spurred the spell into proper action as it grumbled something incoherent and turned around.

Letting out a shrieking laugh of hysterics, Blinky began to run forward and the girls turned to face the other direction and shield their eyes with their arms. And the spell exploded. Jade and Tori turned back around to see what looked like well over a dozen two foot tall, fat and ugly vampires grasping at their eyes, writhing on the floor and shrieking their own horrible noises of pain. Their skin was burning and Jade knew them to be blinded for many minutes, their regeneration halted for only slightly less time than that. Their burning flesh lit the room up enough to see everything, and both Jade and Tori knew that this job was going to be far too easy.

Jade sneered at the sight, propping the dull side of her weapon up on her shoulder. "Bunch of ugly little bastards."

"I dunno, that one down there on the end is kind of cute," Tori said jokingly.

"You only think that because he looks a lot like you."

"Okay…" Tori scowled at Jade, letting her playful expression disappear. "Are you just going to stand here insulting me all day, or can we get to the slaughtering?"

"Losers first," Jade said as she motioned towards the monsters with her head again.

Jade could see the smile trying to reform on Tori's face as the girl replied, "I hate you."

"You love it."

**-S-**

Almost in sync, Jade and Tori exited the van and closed their respective doors.

Clutching at her stomach as she continued to limp, Jade said with a hearty laugh, "And did you see the look on that one's face when you bent down and shouted 'boo!' in his ear?"

Tori laughed too, coming to Jade's side as they headed towards Jade's apartment. Her shoulder bumped into Jade's in her laughter, but neither cared. They simply laughed even harder. "Yeah, and when you punted that one into the other and then skewered them both at the same time? Priceless!"

"Oh, man. That was the most fun I've had during a kill in a long time. I mean, it's always fun, but, that was just great," Jade said as they entered the building.

"I kind of feel bad though," Tori admitted, her fits of laughter finally calming down. "They were just little babies, after all…"

"Yeah," Jade scoffed. "Little babies who would have latched onto your face and sucked your life liquid out if we gave them the chance."

"Well, thanks for the visual," Tori said sarcastically.

They reached the elevator, taking it instead of the stairs because of Jade's foot, and entered it as Jade added, "You're welcome," with a smirk. Tori pressed the right floor button and before the doors could even close, Jade was looking to Tori and speaking again. "Alright, time for me to ask _you _a question."

"Go ahead." Tori smiled.

Jade's own smile was forced out of her as her eyes trailed away in thought. Somberly, letting the smile fade, she said, "Why did you start to like me? Five years ago, I mean."

Tori's own smile dissipated and she struggled with how to answer.

Jade caught on to her struggle and decided to fill the silence with what she hoped would be a helpful explanation. "It's just that I was always so mean to you. I treated you like shit, Tori; I treated everyone like shit. Why would I be desirable in your eyes? Other than the obvious attraction of my sexiness, of course."

Tori gave a small laugh at Jade's conclusion. "Well, Jade, you weren't as bad as you seem to think. Sure, you were a bit of a mean girl, but-"

"You can say bitch, Vega, I'm not going to hurt you. Yet."

"Oh, shut it," Tori said with another smile and slap at Jade's arm. "But you had this vulnerable side that you would show me every now and then. And when you did, I could see this amazing person. You showed it to me more and more the longer we knew each other and it drew me in. All I wanted was to see that side of you more, because I knew it was always there by that point, you just didn't want to show it for whatever reason."

"Wonderful person?" Jade's brow lifted. "What in the world gave you that idea?"

"Seriously?" Tori questioned. "You're job of choice was to rid the world of monsters, Jade. Monsters that kill people."

The elevator dinged, alerting the girls that they had arrived on the correct floor. "I'm no hero, Tori." The doors started to open, but Jade remained in place as she finished speaking. "I told you the other night that I took this job to counteract what I am. If anything, it was selfish of me."

"Doing something that makes you at all happy doesn't make you selfish. And whether you like it or not, people's lives are saved because of what you do. So, to them, you are a hero. Even if they'll never know you exist." Tori kept her eyes on Jade as the doors began to close again and she reached over to press the open button before they could do so completely, opening them back up again.

Jade smiled again, folding her arms as she began to exit elevator. She kept a devious eye on Tori as she passed her. "It's just too bad my happiness now has to be ruined by having to work with you every day."

"Oh, you liar!" Tori proclaimed, following Jade out and down the hallway to the apartment. "You just said that you had the most fun you've had in a long time… with _me._" Tori found her stride next to Jade again and proceeded to stick her playful tongue out at her partner once she was there.

Jade simply shrugged. "Maybe I did. But keep sticking that tongue out at me and you might lose it."

Tori tried sticking her tongue even further as she made childish noises in response.

"Vega!"

Tori's tongue finally retracted. "West!"

Halfway to the apartment now, Jade shoved at Tori's side, sending her stumbling a few feet away and causing her laughter to return. Tori was back at her side a few seconds later, sighing her laughter away.

"You know, you seem much happier today," Tori said.

"Maybe I am." Stopping just a few feet from the apartment door, Jade turned her back to the door and let her happy smile form as she faced Tori.

"This is the side of you I started to have a crush on, by the way."

Backing up slowly as Tori walked in her direction, Jade replied, "Oh? Sorry, you're not my type."

"Oh, really?" Tori giggled again and Jade just nodded, almost to the door now.

"Yeah, why would I want to be with someone who found the skewering of babies to be humorous?" Jade said.

And Tori stuck her tongue out again. Her steps were fester than Jade's backpedaling, and her body nearly pressed to Jade's.

Jade laughed a challenging laugh. "Now what did I say about the tongue, Vega?"

"I dunno, remind me," Tori replied. Her hands wormed onto the hips in front of her and her front pressed to Jade's just before Jade's back was to hit the door. Their faces were dangerously close and both smiled large smiles, eyeing each other's lips as they got closer and closer.

But, the moment Jade's back finally hit the door, her expression changed. Her smile dropped away in an instant and her head turned. "Something's wrong."

"What is it?" Tori said, concern in her voice due to Jade's serious tone.

Jade's eyes came back to Tori and it was obvious that she was confused about something. "You don't feel that?"

"Feel what?"

Instead of answering Tori, however, Jade twisted around and placed a hand on her door's handle. Opening it, she and Tori made their entrance, finding two people standing on the opposite side of the room. Desiree was the first to be noticed and she was being held against her will by the other person, an arm wrapped tightly around her body, keeping her arms locked. And there was a hand at her throat; a clawed hand threatening to cut her throat at any given moment. The figure behind her was hooded, but their facial features were clear, revealing a green, seemingly scaly, feminine face with bright orange eyes.

Smiling evilly, the mysterious girl said, "Hi, Jade. Long time no see."

Jade was immediately in battle mode, drawing out the same machete she had used repeatedly already. "Who the fuck are you? _What _the fuck are you?"

Tori cast her concerned gaze to Desiree and found that the girl showed no fear in her face. Despite her torn clothing, multiple cuts on her skin and heavy breathing, there were no tears streaming from her eyes. She was a brave one.

"Aw, you don't remember me, babe?" The monstrous thing asked.

"Wait," Realization dawned on her, and Jade's eyes widened. "You're…"

"Say it!" The green woman yelled. "Say who I used to be!"

"Beck."


	10. Chapter 10

**Note: **_So it's been like, what? Almost two months since this last updated? Whoops. We can just consider that to be an, um… mid season break? Yeah, let's go with that. Those usually leave the audience with some sort of cliffhanger ending too anyway, don't they? Yeah._

_Oh, and I'm pretty sure that Beck perfectly defines the term 'out of character' in this story. It's so AU at this point that I have a hard time thinking of this story as a Victorious FanFiction anymore._

_Right, so, onto the agonizingly long chapter that took me an agonizingly long time to write for no agonizing reason at all! And I definitely meant that "agonizingly long" by the way. Seriously, this freaking thing is nearly ten thousand words... _

_You're welcome?_

* * *

_Otherworldly Creatures_

"Actually," the monstrous lips twisted into a smirk. "It's Bex now."

Jade blinked, subconsciously tightening her eyelids shut more than usual in disbelief. "What are you d-," she paused and stumbled over her words for a moment. "Why? How?" After another pause, she shook her head. "What?"

Bex let loose a low chuckle, her clawed finger tips digging slightly more into Des' neck. "I always wondered what it would take to truly throw you off your game, Jade. Who would have thought it would be this?"

"Beck?" Tori finally spoke.

Bex looked to Tori, still smirking, and replied with, "Hello, Tori." But the smirk instantly fell, and an expression neither girl had ever seen on the person they once knew as Beck took hold; pure anger. "And did I not just say my name was _Bex_ now?"

Tori remained silent after the intruder's outburst, instead looking to Jade because she had no idea what else to say or do. The whole situation was so strange.

"I…" Jade began to say. She was just as confused as Tori was, but once her vision fell on the clawed hand at Des' throat and she witnessed small droplets of blood trickle down from the tiny cuts made from their pressure, she reacted instinctively. Her face morphed into a stern expression, losing all of its shock, and she looked Bex in her eyes. "Whatever your reasoning for being here is, there's no way it has anything to do with her. So let her go and we talk."

"Talk?" Bex laughed. "You don't like talking, Jade. You like killing." Her orange eyes glowed brighter for a brief second and the smirk turned pure evil as she stared back at Jade. "Like me."

And she was right. All of Jade's instincts were telling her to attack. They were telling her that the thing in front of her was a monster and it needed to be put down. But not only was Desiree's safety in jeopardy, but said monster was someone Jade once loved; someone that she had broken, more than likely sparking whatever it was that morphed Bex into what was standing before Jade and Tori now. And it almost felt as if she were looking into a mirror.

"Just…" Jade failed to hold in a growl. "Why are you here? What is it you want from me?"

The _thing_, that was almost completely opposite from the man once known as Beck, laughed a hardy, mocking laugh and showed off her many sharp teeth. "It's always about you, isn't it, Jade? No, we're not going to talk about you right now. Maybe if you weren't so selfish you would notice that this poor little angel is caught in my devilish grasp. So wouldn't it be more appropriate to speak of her, instead?"

"What?" Jade said in confusion, her voice becoming a constant growl as the uncontrollable anger steadily built up within her.

Tori's very own, surprisingly calm voice chimed in again and Bex's eyes snapped back to her as she spoke. "Des? Are you alright?"

Still overwhelmingly beautiful, even in her unappealing state, Des opened her mouth to speak, but found a single claw sinking further into her neck. It was painful, excruciatingly so because the monster kept the tips of the claws in the flesh to irritate further, but still, she did not show signs of such pain.

Speaking for her, Bex said with her smirk, "Does she look fine, Tori? Though I have to admit, she's a brave one. She fought back pretty hard. Might have even landed a blow or two. But, what is most surprising, is her steadfastness. I've killed many of your kind, little holy one, and almost every one of them begged for their lives. They cried at my feet and died an undignified death."

Des' nostrils flared, and she pushed through the pain, determined to speak despite the clutching hand making attempts to keep her from doing so. Her voice cracked in a harsh, but loud whisper, "I will not beg for mercy at the hands of a demon." _Demon. _Jade's eyes gave slight widening as her suspicions had been confirmed.

Then there was that demonic laugh again, sending chills through everyone's spine except for Jade's.

"You see?" Bex asked with fervor. "This is why I like this one! It's a shame you're going to die today. You had a promising future at The Angel Barracks ahead of you, no doubt." Her twisted smirk of a mouth leaned in close to Des' ear and finished with a whisper, "Now it's time to clip this Angel's wings."

"Why?" Jade asked instantly.

"Why, what? Why must she die?"

"Yes."

Tori looked from Jade to Desiree and Bex, wondering what her partner was doing. As bad as it may sound, the demonic lady thing was right; Jade was far less of a talker and much more of a killer. So Tori couldn't help but wonder why she was questioning the thing instead of trying desperately to keep it from killing Des. Unless… that was exactly what she was doing.

"It's simple," Bex began to explain. "I want you to feel pain. Not the physical sort. The sort that comes from loss. Just like all of the loss you've caused me to have." After finishing his speech, Bex's face gave a slight twitch, but it was barely noticeable and had only just been caught by Jade's keen sight before it was back to normal is if it had never happened.

And then Tori noticed something. Desiree's lips made slight movements and her head tilted further away from Bex's distracted gaze.

"Why not just kill me and get it over with then? Everything that happened to you is my fault, and my fault alone." As calmly as Jade seemed to be trying to speak, the anger was impossible to mask.

Desiree's recently boasted bravery shown through again and her lips moved at a faster pace, clearly chanting something in silence.

Bex seemed genuinely happy to spell out Jade's misery as he answered with, "Because you don't deserve that, Jade. Besides, we have different plans for you."

Both Tori and Jade's eyes narrowed and Jade asked, "We?"

Desiree's eyes closed in her increasing focus.

"Oh, you didn't think all of this was just me, did you? No, I'm not too prideful to admit that I'm just a soldier. After all, it is what _you _have reduced me to."

Jade's rage manifested in a guttural growl and the only one to notice the flash of purple in her eyes was Bex, who would have smirked wider if she could. "Then what the _fuck_ do you want? What will killing this woman accomplish that you and your 'we' want from me?" she yelled.

"We want your monster."

Jade's expression lit up in instant shock. Beck's dog. They were trying to coax it out of her. But, did that mean that was why the Barracks had been so harsh on her lately? Had they been corrupted by whatever Bex was with? And Tori. Tori crashing back into her life had been the biggest factor in sending her emotions into the very places that tried pulling the beast back out. It was her that originally brought it out in the first place. Had these mysterious people, or things, somehow orchestrated the girl's return as well?

"That…" Jade stumbled over her words again for a moment, still reeling from the realization that something wanted her beast to be unleashed. "That still doesn't explain why you're threatening me with her death. I barely even know her and don't even like her. How would it possibly upset me enough?"

For once, Bex didn't readily have words to respond with. So instead a smirk appeared, and Tori spoke instead, saying, "Cat."

"What?" Jade's head turned to Tori.

But Tori kept her eyes on Bex. "You came here looking for Cat, didn't you? Her death would do it, but she wasn't here, and Des was."

"Such a clever girl you've become, Tori Vega," Bex said, rolling the name off of her tongue with such venom that Tori had no choice but to imagine the tongue resembling that of a snake's.

For once, Jade found herself appreciating Cat's sporadic nature. Wherever she was, at least she wasn't under the threat of her throat being violently torn out by someone who had been morphed into a beast that had lain dormant within him for all of his life. But this was all Jade's fault. The girl that actually _was_ under that very threat was only there because of something Jade had done. She still wasn't completely sure how Beck had become the way he was, or why he had been driven do the things he now spoke of, but one thing was for certain; Jade no longer had to wonder what it would look like if her monster was unleashed. There was now a perfect example standing in front of her. And every bit of skin that was showing upon it was covered in a dark, green scale-like coating. The hood still held its place on her head, but it was obvious to anyone who looked that there were at least two small protrusions pushing against the hood's fabric on her forehead. Those claws were even more menacing than the killing machines found on the hands of vampires, and to complete the hellish ensemble, Bex's eyes held an appearance of what could only be described as hellfire.

Tori noticed it first, Jade a moment later. A necklace around Desiree's neck that Tori had only seen the chain of up until now, most of it lying hidden under her shirt ever since Tori arrived, floated away from her skin slowly, able to do so because of her severely torn top. It was mostly indistinguishable from her distance, but Tori could tell there was a cross amongst some other symbols. And it began to glow.

It was a faint glow at first, causing Bex's smirk to fall and Jade's damaged foot to tingle. The necklace glowed brighter and Bex flicked her eyes around, a look of sheer confusion striking her features. Continued increase in brightness and Jade felt the sting in her ankle as the grip around Desiree's neck loosened and Bex growled a harsh noise, wincing in what could only be pain. The features of the necklace could no longer be seen due to its own light and it suddenly felt like a thousand knives were inserting all around the hurt areas of Jade's foot. Desiree was finally set free as pain coursed though Bex's entire body, the woman unable to keep her hold by the time she noticed the glowing piece of jewelry.

Tori watched as whatever Desiree had been doing seemed to work. A small smile threatened her lips as she prepared to act once Des was fully out of the way, still hesitating once the girl crumbled to the floor, her knees hitting hard against the carpet. But as soon as the darkest of growls, almost a roar, bellowed from Bex's throat, the demonic thing pushed through its pain to deliver a powerful backhanded strike to Desiree's unsuspecting and beautiful face, sending the redhead tumbling away. The girl was obviously rendered unconscious from the blow and Tori knew it was time to act, but she was halted.

Jade cried out in paint next to Tori, dropping down to the floor beneath her as the necklace continued its white hot shine. She clutched at her ankle, desperately trying to tear the clothing away from it. The pain was unbearable. It was as if something was peeling the skin away, tearing out the muscles and crunching her bones all at the same time.

"Jade!" Tori called out. She turned in the direction of her partner, instinctively making the appropriate movements to try and race to her aid, but a quickly acquired glimpse of something in the middle of the living room halted her once more. There was stuffing in small piles scattered around the familiar doll, who seemed to be ripped, shredded, or torn in half. She wasn't sure if Iggy would be okay or not, but it did remind her that there was what was essentially a monster to be dealt with.

Bex felt the exact same pain Jade did, only it wasn't localized to just her foot; it was her entire body. But she held the advantage in the way that pain had been reduced to far less of a problem than it did when she was human. Her body was transformed in ways that normal people would never understand, her mind as well. So despite the pain, despite the feeling of being torn apart from the inside out, she pushed through. A step was made and a shutter was had, as if trying to shake the agony away. However, the next step was not made, even though Bex knew that it should have been. Looking up, she discovered Tori's hands held out in front of her, aimed in Bex's direction, a focused and determined look on her face as she used her abilities against her.

Happy thoughts. That was all Tori had to remember, and it seemed to be working. She felt no headache, at least not yet, and her powers were definitely controlling more than something weighing a pound or less. Though, there was a single problem; Bex was still standing in place. Tori meant to shove the thing back into the wall behind her and pin her there, but she remained in place, and it seemed as if she was actually pushing back against Tori's abilities. That was new.

Bex pushed. This _child _was no match for a being of her stature. Tori was powerful, yes, but what had slept within the depths of Beck for so long was much older and held much more power than a girl barely above the age of twenty years old. So that second step forward was finally made, and Bex could feel the rippling in Tori's very being. Her powers weren't meant to be forced back upon itself, yet it was currently happening. Tori's struggle sent a menacing smile spreading across Bex's lips.

So Tori pushed harder. She let out a growl of her own, trying to keep a level head and positive thoughts, though it was kind of hard to do when there wasn't a whole lot of positive to choose from. But her fight was proved futile as Bex came to another halt, and her eyes changed. A bright glow of fiery orange came to accompany that evil smile, and Tori could have sworn she heard a deep, slow and guttural laugh echo in the back of her mind as those glowing globes of fire stared into her own brown ones.

Jade managed a tight grip around her offending flesh, finding herself out of any other options. The shock of the initial and sudden pain had started to ware off, however, and her mind began to come back to its senses. She looked up to see Tori's bravery as she stood up to Bex, only to discover the girl's face turning red as she struggled and fear graced her features. A look of true horror took fear's place and Jade immediately knew something more than the obvious was happening.

That deep laugh not only moved out of the depths of Tori's mind and into the forefront, but it grew quicker, louder and somehow even more threatening. And then all that positive thought was gone, replaced by an overwhelming sense of negativity. It started with screams. They seemed to come from all around her, yet still only emanated from within her mind. There were thousands of them, ringing out one by one until they moved into a single, high pitched and constant sound of horror that washed over that evil laugh. Tori might have been able to remember that what she was currently going through sounded very similar to the story Jade had told her just a few days ago, but her torment grew worse, and she was unable to focus on much thought at all any longer. Dropping her hands away without even thinking about it, Tori brought them to her head as she doubled over, squeezing her palms to her temple as a new form of pain shot through her skull. The screams soon came to be accompanied by images. Visions. And they were all horrific. She couldn't make out a single one, they were flashing by so quickly. She saw despair, anguish, death, sorrow. Countless different lives that had perished in some way or another. She fell to her knees, at which point her own blood curdling scream rang out into the surrounding walls.

Tori's anguish sent a smile of sheer satisfaction, and possibly even pleasure, to tear its way even further across Bex's face.

Within seconds, Tori had gone from mildly fear stricken to slamming down onto her knees in pure terror, screaming the most horrific thing Jade had ever heard. Jade's own agony remained, but she found a moment of strength as she looked beyond it, for Tori's sake. Tori was in obvious trouble, and Jade's body reacted instinctively, bypassing the need for anger altogether and immediately bringing out the beast within her. But just as quickly as it began to manifest, throughout her entire body, pain set in as well. The same sensation felt in her foot reverberated throughout her body for only a few seconds of pure torture before her beast was receding, and she was back to normal. And for once, Jade's mind was clear. Her eyes flicked over to Bex for a moment and despite the horrid smile on the thing's face, Jade's anger didn't try and control her; instead, a different emotion took over. Fear. Fear for Tori's wellbeing.

A faint noise of metal clanking to a hard surface was heard, and Jade realized that the necklace had stopped hovering slightly above Desiree's neck, no longer glowing and settling into a stationary position on her floor. The pain in her ankle began to simmer away and Jade was already back up and on her feet before it was done dissipating. Her machete was retrieved from its position next to her and she charged forward without thinking, making only slight stumbles, as she hadn't even come to a full standing position before she had started moving.

Bex's smile was knocked away as Jade plowed into her with a shoulder to the stomach, forcefully moving her backwards and pinning her to the very spot that Tori had intended with her abilities, not two feet from Jade's room. Jade shoved with her forward shoulder as hard as she could, hoping to incite a whelp of pain from her enemy, but she received no such satisfaction. She brought the end of the machete to point threateningly at Bex's scale covered, but still fragile and tender looking throat, and finally felt her worry of Tori's distress bubbling back up again. The thing inside of her once again started to try and dig its way out and the only comfort she found in that fact was that it lent her further strength to help keep Bex pinned in front of her. Her monster within was also fueled by returned anger as she realized that Tori was still whining in agony behind her, even though Bex's focus was now completely on Jade.

After noticing Bex's smirk return, inciting a dark growl from Jade, she threatened, "Stop what you're doing to her! Now!"

"Even if I could, I wouldn't," Bex replied, calm as ever, and even a bit amused.

"Why?" Jade made a show of pressing harder into Bex as she did the same with the machete against her throat, nearly drawing blood. "Why do you want my 'monster'?"

Bex laughed in her face, angering Jade further and accomplishing the very thing that Jade was questioning. "Come on, Jade. Show it to me. You can feel it right now, can't you? Listen to your girlfriend over there, she's suffering the worst torment imaginable, there's nothing you can do about it, I'm the one that did it to her, and you know for a fact that you do not have me at a disadvantage right now and I could take control whenever I feel like. You can feel how weak you are compared to me, I know it. Now doesn't all that just piss you off?"

Pissed off was an understatement.

With her left hand, Bex reached up and gripped the blade tight before Jade could respond. Blood from the hand's palm began to flow down the machete and Bex didn't seem bothered in the slightest. Her right hand lifted as well, quickly wrapping around Jade's throat, and if Jade could focus on anything other than being choked, she would have come to the conclusion that Bex was a bipolar nut job. His evil, yet playful smirk was gone in an instant, replaced by anger as he said, "You and your God damned women. You have no idea how badly you destroyed me, do you?"

Jade felt herself being lifted. She could no longer breath, and quickly came to fear the crushing of her windpipe. Her feet kicked under her and her free hand scraped at Bex's chest as her voice tried to force out any noise at all, but failed. Bex was squeezing harder and harder, bloodlust in his eyes. He was definitely ready to kill her.

Suddenly, the hate filled expression on Bex's face fell and a mildly familiar twitch happened as a different look took over instead. Her face cringed as it slightly tilted, reminding Jade of the faces people make when they hear a sound that simply _hurts _them in an indescribable way, such as chalk screeching against a blackboard or silverware against teeth. And then, just as suddenly, Bex threw the blade away, yanking it from Jade's hand and sending it scattering across the floor and past Desiree and into the kitchen, releasing Jade's throat as she dropped her back to the ground. And then Bex palmed a strong thrust against Jade's chest, causing her to stumble a step back and away.

Taking in much needed gasps of air, Jade felt the monster within her climbing closer and closer to the surface. Her eyes bore a light, purple tint and muscles tensed, tightening against her skin.

Bex spun towards Jade's room and Jade gave chase as the dark scaled girl tried to make an escape for unknown reasons. They both made it into the room and it was quickly proven that Bex was much quicker than Jade. Beck had always been the superior being when it came to anything of the physical sort, and that was even more so now that his power was fully unleashed in the form of Bex. Where as Jade had only been but a foot away when Bex turned tail and ran, she was quickly finding herself at a greater distance of at least five feet in the span of a few seconds. So, halfway through her room now, both of them running towards her window, Jade pulled out her rarely used handgun and brought it to bare. The thing came into existence with a glowing, purple snap, much easier than usual. And just as it came to aim at her back, Bex's enhanced "spidey senses", as Jade had once called them, kicked in and she sensed the danger, spinning around to just barely swat the metallic object out of Jade's hands, just as had been done to the machete.

Jade wanted to kill this thing in front of her. Jade didn't want to kill this thing in front of her. She wasn't sure, if she was honest with herself, and that only served to anger her further. Deep down, she knew Beck was still in there. But at the same time, Tori was in some unimaginable hell with no promise as to what might become of her, and that spurred Jade's bloodlust to override any lingering feelings that might still be left over for the being that was once the most important thing in her life. That very bloodlust sent pain throughout her body. The thing inside of her was now closer to taking over than it had ever been and Jade couldn't help but embrace it. She felt shifts in her own bones, the tips of her knuckles sharpening as the skin around them changed from pale to light grey and smaller, less threatening claws took the place of her fingertips.

Just after the gun was smacked out of her hand, a feeling of relief actually washed over Jade, suddenly feeling like using the thing would have been far less satisfying than tearing apart her opponent with her bare hands. Those very monstrous hands grabbed at Bex's swinging arm before it could retract and she pulled, and Jade's sharp knuckled fist slammed into Bex's face once he was close enough. The green lady stumbled away after the blow, closer to the window, and Jade charged forward again as that successful blow to Bex spurred her monster into further bloodlust. Great pain surged through her body as it morphed, but it hindered her none as she once again slammed into the body in front of her. She was taller now, and the entirety of her skin was no longer the pale hue of a Caucasian girl, but an extremely light grey that was slowly darkening with each passing second. Though she had no knowledge of these cosmetic changes, she felt the change in strength and speed. A growl that had never been heard from Jade rumbled through her throat just before she collided with Bex again.

This time there was enough force in the offending body to knock the air out of Bex's lungs as they collided. The same shoulder from the previous collision barreled into her stomach and they fell backward and onto the floor as Bex lost her footing, Jade landing atop Bex. And with a quickly placed and supportive hand next to Bex's head on the room's hard surface, Jade reared her other arm back, balling her first as she prepared to strike another blow at Bex's head.

"Still haven't learned," Bex quickly said. Taking advantage of the same weakness Jade had always displayed when they sparred in high school, Bex exploited Jade's ignored defenses as she once again proved she was still the quicker monster. Both of her hands were at Jade's sides in an instant, claws digging into the flesh surrounding Jade's ribs like knives in steak.

Always too quick to strike, ignoring the things her opponent might be attempting out of her sight, Jade once again fell prey to her opponent's quickness. Fortunately for her, Jade seemed to have been born for offensive combat, so most of her attackers were never skilled or quick enough to get much over on her, but still, there were more than a few occasions that had left her with wounds that could have been easily avoidable. But, this time it was Bex, not Beck, who didn't simply leave a light thwack against her ribs to be buy time as Jade winced in pain like they did in high school. No, Bex was far more ruthless than that, and this was no friendly sparring session.

Fortunately for Jade, her body was changing at an alarming rate. There was no way to be sure what was being pierced as the claws dug into her sides, and the pain was far less than she had thought possible, but it did serve its purpose as she reeled in what pain _was_ there, stopping her strike from coming down on Bex's head. Those claws curled around any and everything that they were touching and Bex smirked as she pulled. Jade's hide was becoming impossibly tough, far too much for anything to be ripped off of her, so instead she was yanked off of Bex, towards the window. Claws slid out of flesh and Jade managed to catch a single foot on the ground to keep her from falling to the floor, where she would surely be at a disadvantage. Bex was nearly on her feet again just as Jade's side hit her large window and it made a crack.

Fully on her feet now, Bex looked Jade in the eye as she quipped, "Told you."

There was still remaining pain in her sides, but it was quickly diminishing. Jade couldn't tell if it was because of some super regenerative power that she had no idea she was capable of, or if it was because her body was still changing; either way, she didn't really care in the moment. Rage flooded her brain like a drug and she fed off of it, continuing to fuel her growing strength. There was no doubt in her mind, the thing formerly known as Beck was going to die this day.

But the thing currently known as Bex had other plans. Her eyes flicked to the cracked window behind Jade, before coming back to said girl as she finally shook off the pain at her ribs. The holes still remained in Jade's clothing, but the wounds were now nothing more than scars and blood, from what Bex could surmise. Before she could gather anymore useless information on Jade's wounds, Bex did as Jade had done twice already and charged.

Jade didn't even have time to brace herself for impact before her body tangled with another and they crashed through the window, shattering the glass and pulling a curtain along with them as they escaped into the open air, immediately falling to what Jade instinctively thought would be her death. Four stories. They fell four stories, Bex smirking all the way down, and the fact that Jade lived in an apartment building that held large suites instead of small singles made the size of each storey that much larger. They drifted away from one another in their escalation towards the ground and Jade was the only one that seemed at all worried.

Jade landed first, Bex not a full second later. An annoyingly lime green colored car suffered more than minor damage as Jade crashed into its hood, just above the front bumper, and bounced violently off as Bex hit the pavement next to her.

For a moment Jade lay still, perfectly frozen in pain that she automatically assumed was due to a snapped spine. But she soon found herself with slight movements as the most severe pain she had ever felt set in at a rapid pace. Her pale-grey face was finally colored as each movement forced massive strain on her and blood flushed it, coloring it a noticeable red. It hurt to move, but at least she could, not that that fact gave her any sort of relief, of course. However, she did find a slight bit of satisfaction in finally damaging the car that had remained an eye sore outside of her window for the better part of a month. Her recently stabbed sides revealed themselves not to have been fully healed as blood poured out once more, the sting of those open wounds, combined with the countless cuts due to shards of glass, adding to her misery. Her left arm was useless, having found itself in collision with the car as well, but she managed to lift herself with her right one. It shook violently in its struggle to lift her, but it got the job done as she also managed to lift her head in time to notice Bex running away.

The demon girl's hood was off now and she turned a quick head to flash one final, evil and utterly satisfied smirk, revealing her horns to Jade in their full glory as her matted, thick, shoulder length, and darker green hair flipped up with each stride behind her. She moved as if the fall had never happened, and as much as that angered Jade, it was no longer fueling her dark side.

Again, Jade had to silently thank either healing capabilities or a drastically changing physiology for saving her this day. But it seemed as if her change was coming to a halt, possibly even reverting, causing extreme exhaustion to tax her body within moments, and her arm gave out as it dropped her back to the pavement.

**-S-**

The door opened and the first thing Jade heard was Tori's whimper. Fifteen minutes after her fall, Jade had finally found her way back up to her home. Her body was back to normal, aside from her many scrapes, cuts, and bruises, but she no longer resembled any sort of monster, her skin having returned to its most comfortable pale tone. She shuffled in, not even bothering to close her own door behind her and saw Tori with her knees pulled to her chest, her hands wrapped around them, crying as she sat against the same spot that Jade had the day she revealed her past to Tori.

Jade was completely spent. It took all of her effort just to get each limb to move. Luckily, whatever change she had been going through kept her from suffering horrific injury, but the pain still remained. Each step stressed her spine and locked her muscles, the feeling was returning in her left arm as it dangled at her side, and all she could think about doing was crashing onto her plush couch and slipping into unconsciousness. Worrying about what had actually been happening to her during her fight with Bex could wait until later. She knew she could slap her "sparring runes" on and mend her wounds within seconds as it replenished her energy, but all that would do is postpone the pain; not even half an our and she would be back to feeling like she fell out of a building and onto a car. Not to mention the fact that the rune itself exhausted the user upon completion, and she had no desire to experience that added onto her already weakened state. But despite her own selfish desires, Tori needed her more.

She glanced from the couch to the crying girl, gave an exasperated sigh, and then began the arduous journey to Tori Vega. Desiree was no longer in the spot Jade had last seen her in, indicating that she was at least alive and now conscious. She thought she caught a bit of movement to her left, closer to the television, but couldn't even be bothered to look or care just yet. Finally reaching Tori, she slid down the wall next to her. She didn't care for her usual persona in the moment as she wrapped her good arm around Tori's shoulders, pulling the girl closer to her.

Tori leaned into her as well, giving another sniffle as Jade asked, "You okay?"

"No," Tori answered. The tears had stopped and her voice was quiet. "What happened with Beck?"

"Gone. What in the hell did she do to you?"

Tori laughed. It was a sad, defeated laugh, but a laugh nonetheless. "I think you just explained it."

"What?" Jade asked, tilting her head to get a better look at Tori's face.

Tori let Jade brush the hair out of her face as the girl tried to look Tori in the eye. She finally gave Jade a small smile and answered, "Hell. Or, at least, that's what it seemed like. It's kind of hard to explain. It's like… I suddenly just felt so sad and lonely and hurt. I dunno, it was just the worse feeling in the world. And then… and then there were other people, or souls there with me."

"How could you tell they were souls?"

"I just," Tori paused, shifting her eyes all around Jade's face as she searched for a logical answer. "I just could. And they were all screaming, and they were all in the same agony that I was… but worse, I think. I also kept getting these flashes, these images of monstrous things, horrible things."

Jade felt a twinge of fear as Tori mentioned monsters. "Like what?"

"Like… Some of it was literal monsters, horrendous things that I can't even imagine actually exist in our world. But I also saw bad things being done to people. And not just torture. I mean, a lot of it was stuff worse than those horror movies you love so much, but some of it was heartbreak. People losing the ones they loved, feeling like they were worthless, finding their wife cheating on them. It was just… it was like a greatest hits of sorrow. But…" Tori finally paused her speech again, lifting her head a bit as she searched through her brain for something.

"But what, Tori? And I feel too much like shit to keep asking you to continue, so if you could just stop trailing off now, that'd be great."

And Tori almost laughed. "I feel like I actually learned things though. I told you I felt the things all those other people felt, not completely, but it was like I was connected to them. The strange thing was that I felt like one of _them._" She let her statement linger again, gathering her next words, and decided to speak up before Jade got a bit cranky with her for having to ask her to elaborate on what the hell she was talking about. "So many souls, but they were all connected to something. Something was looking into them, experiencing what they experienced, and I was connected to that person... Or that thing. It must have been Beck, right? I mean, he's… she's the one that did it to me, after all. I was in _someone's _mind, sharing their experiences, or thoughts, or something. Either way, it felt like what anyone in their right mind would imagine hell is like."

"I'm sorry you experienced that," Jade said after a few moments of silence. Her voice was full of pain, of guilt, and neither of them could come to a reasonable conclusion as to why Bex would do such a thing to her in the first place.

"No, it's alright." Tori finally gave a genuine smile. "It's not like it was your fault. I just… I'll get over it. Let's just hope I never experience that again."

"That's just the thing, Vega," Jade closed her eyes tight, trying not to let a growl escape her lips. "It _is _my fault. Beck was turned into whatever the fuck that was because of me."

"How do you know that for sure?"

"What else makes sense? I changed him five years ago. He was different in more ways than just the loss of a penis, I could tell. He just… wasn't the same. I broke more inside of him than I thought."

"But," Tori pulled Jade's face back to her when she looked away, forcing the girl to return eye contact. "You said that he had something similar inside of him that you do, right? What if he had something horrible happen in his… _her_ life that forced it out of him?"

"Yeah! Me! I happened, Tori. I completely fucked not only him, but Cat too."

Before Tori could respond with more arguing words, another voice squeaked from the doorway. "Jade," the voice whined. "I thought we were going to work on not cursing anymore!"

"Cat?" Jade said before her head was completely turned in the direction of the small redhead standing at the open door. "Where have you been?"

Tori looked at the girl with a questioning look as well, and a look of sorrow appeared on Cat's face as she answered, "Oh, I was…" As her eyes avoided the interrogating look Jade was giving her, Cat's eyes trailed around the room and landed on Desiree sitting on the floor near the television, hunched over as she held Iggy. "Iggy! What on earth happened here, you guys?" she was suddenly saying, noticing the damage done to not only the apartment, but the girls as well.

Cat immediately started to bounce in the direction of Iggy and Des, but after a quick glance at the Angel in training, Jade stopped her with a yell. "Cat!" she said. "Just tell me where you were."

Cat whimpered, stopping her movement, and Tori finally stood back up.

"Cat, just tell her, you can check on Iggy in a moment and we'll explain everything, okay?" Tori said. She flashed her a small, genuine smile, and even Jade was impressed that she managed enough courage to do so after what she had just been through.

"Well," Cat fiddled with her fingers as she looked back and forth between an approaching Tori Vega and a still sitting Jade West. Most of her attention remained on Tori as she said, "I'm sorry, Jade. I know you don't like it when I go places without telling you, but… it's just that… there's that new candy store not far from here! And… and I'm not very fast today, so I had to walk because you remember what happened last time I drove, and I-"

"Okay, okay!" Jade interrupted. She laughed a relieved laugh as her head thumped into the wall behind her and Tori continued past Cat, on her way to her shredded living doll. "Candy? You weren't here because of candy?"

"Jade!" Cat whined again. "I said I'm sorry. They had that stuff that is really similar to bibble, I couldn't help it!"

"No, Cat, I know. It's fine. Trust me, it's completely fine."

"Oh," Cat's smile returned and her posture was instantly back to it's perky usual. "Kay kay! Thanks, Jade!" She continued her previously halted bouncing and even managed to arrive at Desiree before Tori did. Once there, she bent down to her knees and began trying her hardest not to cry at the sight she was witnessing.

Desiree was clutching the doll close to her as she sewed parts of him back on, as well as what appeared to be pieces from other dolls that could serve as replacements for Iggy's irreparably shredded ones. Iggy himself was moaning and groaning as if he were dying, having just had a brown and furry left arm attached, and Desiree began further work shoving stuffing back into absent places.

"At… at least I'll…" Iggy's voice was low, slow, strained and filled with pauses. He coughed, though Tori was still unsure of how he actually did things like that, and continued with, "At least I'll have seen… the face of pure beauty… before I die."

Tori rolled her eyes and Cat finally burst into tears.

Desiree simply smiled at him as she worked, tearing off the bottom half of a teddy bear that was around the same size as Iggy. Her clothes were still torn, but not severely enough to be considered naked. After becoming conscious again, the first thing she had done was search through her things for her sewing kit, far more worried about a ghost inside of a doll than herself.

"Why don't you…" Iggy made a show of coughing again. "Why don't you grant me a kiss before I go?"

Tori looked back to Jade, who was still sitting in her spot, taking to time to relax in her exhaustion, and Tori chose not to interject between the beauty and the doll. She would let Iggy have this kiss if Desiree was offering. He had been torn to shreds, after all. So that's what Desiree did as she pulled him closer and placed a kiss at his forehead. But, being the devilish little doll that he is, he decided to push it to far.

"And, could I…" he began with hesitation. "Could I possibly have my face… placed between your… your bosom, my lady?"

Desiree's smile fell and she simply said, "What?" as she snapped her head back and away from him.

"Des," Tori sighed. "He's not going to die. He'll be fine. You don't have to coddle him."

"Really, girl?" The little doll shouted, suddenly reverting back to his normal voice. "Why must you always cause me sorrow? Does it bring you pleasure?"

But Tori ignored Iggy. Instead, she chose to head back to Jade, noticing how much pain the girl seemed to be in, feeling ashamed of herself that she hadn't noticed before as she went on and on about her own problems. Desiree gave a scolding look to Iggy, who shrugged and smiled impishly, though it was impossible to tell through his face of fabric, and despite the little guy's mischievous ways, Desiree continued her work, feeling him undeserving of a mangled body. And Cat simply watched the girl work, as if she was on the edge of her seat in the waiting room of a hospital, waiting to get news on if a loved one survived surgery or not.

"Jade," Tori grabbed the girl's attention, kneeling down in front of her. "Are you alright? You sat down next to me before and I didn't notice you were this bad. Seriously, what happened with Beck? And don't say 'don't worry about it' because you know I'll just keep pestering you anyway."

Jade smiled, gave a small effort of a laugh, and then answered, "We fought. Or, I tried to fight her. She actually ran. And I was just so angry that… I dunno, I was overcome with something."

"Is it the monster you keep telling me is inside of you?"

"Yeah, but," Jade shrugged. "It was different. More intense. I've never felt it like that before. Usually it feels like there's something banging on a door inside my head, threatening me to let it in. But this time there was no door, just me. And I was becoming something else."

"Alright," Tori offered a hand, motioning that she would help Jade up. "So why did she run?" And with a proud smile forming, she finished with, "Did you kick her ass?"

"For once, no, I did not." Jade laughed again, but it was a hollow, defeated laugh, and Tori no longer found the strength to hold her own smile. "God, Tori. She could have slaughtered me. She picked me up by the throat with one hand like it was nothing, fell four stories, directly onto the pavement outside and then proceeded to get up like it had never happened."

"Wait, you threw her out of a window? Sounds like you had the upper hand to me, Jade."

Jade shook her head and finally grabbed Tori's still outstretched hand. "No, we both fell."

"At the same time?" Tori asked.

"At the same time."

"Then," Tori began, looking Jade up and down as she lifted the girl to her feet. "Why do you not have at least one broken bone? I mean, four stories, Jade?"

"Four stories and onto a car," Jade added.

"Aside from looking like you're about to fall asleep where you stand, and looking like a thousand cats just went to work on your clothes and skin, you don't really look like you fell from that high onto a car."

Jade managed a smile, one that was filled with as much playfulness as she could muster, "What can I say? I'm a badass."

"It was your demon." All eyes turned to Desiree, but she didn't look up from her work on Iggy as she added, "What's inside of you, Jade, is something far more," her eyes glanced upward as she searched for a proper word. "Durable. If it had almost overcome you when you fell, then it doesn't surprise me that you're fine, as well as Bex."

"Yeah," Jade said. "I kind of figured as much."

Jade's face returned to its worn and defeated state, but Tori smiled for her as it lifted into a huge grin. "Well, whatever the reason, I'm just glad you're okay. Oh, and I'm sorry that Bex…" Tori's speech was halted as multiple images and thoughts not of her own mind flashed across Tori's mind as she finally spoke Beck's now female name. She wasn't quite sure what it was that she was seeing in her head, because of the speed at which it seemed to be flowing in, and with only two blinks, it was done.

"Sorry that Bex what?" Jade asked, casting Tori a worried look.

"Oh, uh…" Tori shook her head and cleared her throat. "That he became what he is. It's not you're fault, okay, Jade? And sorry. I'm not sure what happened just now."

Jade just nodded. She didn't believe Tori, but it was best not to argue, even if she was completely positive that it was, in fact, all her fault. She turned to Desiree and walked towards her, with Tori following behind. "So, demons are actually real?" she asked.

"Of course they are," Desiree answered. "I've never seen one, or even heard of their presence in our world in a very long time, but they are very much real. Just like I am a descendent of a celestial being. You can't have the good without the bad, Jade."

"Speaking of which, what was that thing you did to Bex and me? I've never seen or heard of magic like that."

"That's because it's not of this world."

Desiree finally finished with Iggy and she stood him up as she stood up as well. Iggy took a good look down at himself, having finally had the chance to witness what Desiree had been fixing him up with, and he and Tori realized the same thing at the same time.

"Wait, is that… ?" Tori began to point out.

And Iggy shouted, "No! What have you done!"

"What?" Asked Desiree.

"You… you attached _him _to me? How could you do that!"

Desiree looked to Tori, who sighed and explained, "You used Mister Fuzzles, didn't you?"

Desiree was confused. "Mister Fuzzles?"

"My teddy bear. Light brown? Had a cute little black top hat glued to his head?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, Tori," Desiree apologized, looking genuinely saddened that she had defaced something of Tori's. "I wasn't in the clearest states of mind when I began work on Iggy. I just grabbed the first thing I could find."

"No, no, it's okay. I only ever kept the thing around because Iggy despised it."

"Of course I despise it!" Iggy yelled, yet again. "How could you not? It just sits there in it's damned little hat, staring like it knows what you're thinking with it's damned beady little eyes and it's damned little face. And you attached parts of that damned infernal creature to _me_?"

A black boot slammed forcefully into Iggy and he promptly went flying across the room, only to have Cat chase after him. As the redhead and the doll disappeared into the depths of the apartment, Jade said, "As you were saying, Sparky. What do you mean it's not of this world?"

Whatever concern the angelic girl had for Iggy was put aside as she realized he would be fine. She turned to Jade, turning her face serious, as she answered her. "You don't seriously think this is the only world in existence do you?"

Jade simply shrugged.

"Well," Desiree began again. "There's plenty more worlds or universes, if you will, out there. Where do you think most of the creatures in this world come from? They're not supposed to be here, only humans are. Even myself. Whatever holy place my Angel ancestors came from lends me certain gifts like that."

"Then…" Tori chimed in, looking just as confused and curious as Jade. "Why isn't there so much more magic out there if any worlds magic can be used here?"

"Because whatever gate or rift or tear or whatever it was that brought all these things here have long since been closed."

Jade's eyes narrowed on Desiree and her head tilted back in understanding. "But you're world's gate remains open?"

"Yes," Desiree confirmed. "But I do not know where or how. It just is. And as long as it remains open, people of my bloodline retain certain inherent abilities. Such as the one I used earlier."

"The one made to harm evil?" Jade asked.

"That's one way to describe it, yes."

Tori looked to Jade and shared a knowing look with her partner. Her hand lifted up to rest on Jade's shoulder, where she rubbed a comforting rub, and Jade let her.

Looking back to Desiree, Jade continued. "So it's confirmed then? What I am is pure evil."

"Do you see why the Barracks assigned me here? Demons aren't of this world either. They come from a place of great and evil horrors. We weren't sure at first what you were, having only sensed minor darkness in you, so the Barracks sent a low level agent like myself to watch over you. But now that we know the true potential of the evil inside of you…"

Before Desiree could continue after trailing off for a moment, Tori spoke up, interrupting her with, "You can't tell them about Jade!"

Both Desiree and Jade looked to Tori, who seemed a bit surprised at her own outburst, and a smile graced Jade's lips.

"Tori," Desiree sighed.

"Look, you know Jade, right? It doesn't matter what you 'sense' is inside of her, whatever the hell that means. She's _not _evil. And if you go and tell your bosses that she's some evil demon from another world, they'll come down on her hard. You don't want that, right?"

"No, I don't," Desiree said, and after that, the room fell silent for a moment. So given the few seconds to think, she finally continued. "Look, I can't stop them from sensing you on their own, it's how they found out about you in the first place, but… I won't go and inform them myself, you have my word. It's not because I think you can control it, Jade. It's because while I can see there is a great darkness in you, there's also plenty of good. And if there's anything you've learned from my time here, especially tonight, it's that good can seriously fuck the evil right out of the room."

The biggest smile Jade had burst free at Desiree's use of a curse word and she muttered a, "Thanks, Des."

Tori smiled too, but gave a good look at Desiree, remembering the things she had gone through earlier. "Uh, are you sure you're okay, Des?"

"Yeah," Jade added. "You look like shit, just like me. But I gotta hand it to you, as brave and calm as you were through that, it kind of impressed me."

And Desiree scoffed, yet again showing both Jade and Tori a side of her they both thought was non existent. "Just because I was raised by the Barracks doesn't mean I haven't had a hard life too, Jade. Trust me, Bex was nothing. If anything, the fact that my favorite top is now torn to shred upsets me the most."

"Well, okay then," Jade backed off of the subject, accepting the girls answer and reasoning. Letting out a huge sigh and looking back and forth between the two girls next to and in front of her, she eventually said, "So, a shower and change of clothes sounds like pure heaven right about now. I mean, dried blood and sweat is only comfortable for so long..."

"Agreed," said Tori and Desiree in unison.

"What do you girls say we share that shower at the same time, huh?"

Both girls looked to her with intense expressions. One of them was disgusted, but the other might have actually entertained the idea for a moment.

* * *

**Note:** _Like I said: Agonizingly. Long._

_So, apparently, Jade wasn't kidding when she said combat can get a bit brutal. _

_Also, believe it or not, I actually had a whole lot more to add to this chapter in mind, but it was already far too long, so we'll have to save those things until next time. Also also, I've discovered that saying and typing the word "Bex's" really fucking bothers me for some reason. Also also also, I've discovered that I suck at writing any variation of Cat, so I'm sorry if she's a bit dry and left out in this story…_

_And thanks for your patience in waiting for this chapter! (For those of you still here...)_


	11. Chapter 11

**Note: **_So, no, I'm not dead. And I know this is a short chapter, but I just wanted to get something out there to show that I'm still here and I'm still writing. This is shorter than usual, but it's sort of a special chapter, which you'll find out why once you begin reading._

**Enjoy**

* * *

_Desiree_

_"Just because I was raised by the Barracks doesn't mean I haven't had a hard life too"_

**-S-**

The redheaded woman looked around a few times. She did so more than once because of the glare from the setting sun that slightly hindered her vision while looking in its direction, because she wanted to be sure. After concluding that she was safely unseen, Desiree began tracing her fingers in the air, creating a complicated pattern that manifested in the appearance of solidified air once she completed the pattern. The floating rune was directed up towards Jade's shattered window and with a quickly exhaled blow from the beauty, it was whisked upward. It traveled from Desiree's stood position on the sidewalk below and to the window in a matter of seconds. The magic went to work, and the recently destroyed window was quickly becoming reassembled, pulling up nearby shards of glass as well as forming new ones to replace any that couldn't be found, or were simply too far away for the spells grasp to reach.

She smiled to herself. Jade thought she was adept in the art of the rune, but she had no idea how far from an expert she really was, Desiree thought.

"What in the _fuck_ happened to my car?" a male voice boomed to her right, and her smile fell. If Jade and Tori had been able to see her, then she would have kept the smile. But it's far more tiring to keep up such an appearance than people may think.

Desiree turned her back and let loose a deep breath, silently praying to her god that this man wouldn't complicate things. Jade and Tori were both passed out up in the apartment, clean of filth and wounds tended to. So the self proclaimed Angel in Training took it upon herself to fix things. But more than just a window needed fixing, and the only person who had the power to help try and secure things would be there to meet with Desiree at any moment. The last thing she needed was a six foot tall, balding bull of a man to cause ripples in her risky plans.

But, as someone had once told her at some point in her life, she was pretty sure, anyway, was that one should always expect the worst. Or was it that if something can go wrong, it will? Either way, she had heard far too many stupid sayings like that in her long life. It's just too bad they usually tended to be true.

"Hey, you," the man said, now directed at Desiree. "You see what happened to my car?"

She decided to turn around and confront the man, replying with, "No, I did not," and expertly reacquired her knee weakening smile.

Baldy gulped at that smile and took a good look up and down her well kept body, already entranced by her supernatural charm. He was obviously of the weak willed.

"Are you, uh… are you sure?" he asked. His anger had dissipated a significant amount, and he stuttered over his own words, unfamiliar with the notion of asking for things politely in his rage filled personality. "That roomy of yours didn't have anything to do with it, did she?"

"No, she didn-" Desiree made her attempt to answer, but the anger was strong in this one.

"I swear to God, if that bitch did something to my car."

The man's face was quickly growing red again as he belted out his mostly hollow threat, but it was enough to send Desiree over the edge. She had no time to deal with such inferiority. Quicker than his mind could comprehend, she was in front of him, grabbing at the front of his collared, green shirt. Significantly smaller than this man, yet Desiree had no trouble manipulating him as she pleased, with only one hand.

Looking into his eyes with only a few inches between their faces, she growled, "Don't you ever use our fathers name and the word 'bitch' in the same sentence again. Do you understand me?"

Confusion wracked his mind. He was feeling angry, most assuredly, but it was accompanied by an attraction and an overwhelming sense of joy and happiness, but the feeling he got from the woman holding him against his will was closer to anger, hate, and utter frustration. Similar to the effect dumping water on something, only to have it ignite in flames would have. Simply confusing and hard to comprehend.

"Do you understand me?" Desiree reiterated, slower so that he might be able to comprehend her complicated words better.

He just nodded fervently.

"Good, now…" she paused, took another deep breath, and kissed him full on the lips. The red flushed out of his face and tense posture relaxed, the troubles of the world leaving him almost altogether. Desiree pulled away once he was fully under her spell and said, "Jade had nothing to do with your car. In fact, it was all your fault, and you'll go and get it fixed and that will be the end of it. Do _not _bother Jade West anymore." And with a forced smile and a wink of the eye, she sold it with, "Okay? For me?"

"Okay," he nodded, his mouth agape. The man, whose name Desiree would probably never learn, turned around to his car, got in, started it, and headed off to get the damaged front bumper and hood fixed.

Relief. It washed over Desiree quickly once he was gone, but that feeling was quickly reversed as another voice spoke up from somewhere behind her.

"Whore," the strong, female voice said.

Desiree spun on her heel, as agitated as possible by the time she was fully turned around. "Call me that again, see what happens."

"Why not?" Seraph laughed. The silver haired woman's arms were crossed as she leaned against the brick walls of Jade's apartment building. "When you kiss everyone you see to get what you want out of them, it's kind of hard to think of you as anything else, Rae."

Desiree growled. "Don't call me _that _either."

Seraph laughed again. She always did enjoy the levels of frustration she was able to induce in Desiree. After all, it was the kind of frustration that can only be brought out by a sibling. "Again, why not? It's what mother always called you."

"Which is exactly why I don't want you to."

Her lips curled back down, but the amusement never left her expression as Seraph progressed their conversation first. "What is it you called me here for?"

"Do you feel that?" Desiree asked, folding her arms and flicking her eyes around her as if to gesture towards everything that surrounded them.

It was only a few seconds before Seraph's simple, "Yes," was spoken.

"Well?"

Seraph's eyes narrowed. "Is that Jade? Has she grown to match our fears?"

"Not quite," Desiree explained. "But we were right to assign me to this girl, Syrup."

"What have I told you about calling me tha-"

"No," Desiree interrupted her sister. "If you call me whore, I get to call you whatever I please. But let's stop the childish bickering already. This is serious. That recruit of yours, Beck, that you somehow lost. Remember him? Yeah, what you're feeling was him. Or her, I guess."

"Her?" Seraph questioned.

"He wasn't _him_self anymore. We've kept these two close for a reason. And I saw that reason full and powerful, right in front of me. I _fought _that reason. And as strong as I am, it still bested me. If we had anyone else assigned on Jade's watch, I have no doubt they would have been killed. Even you, sister. This is much worse than we originally thought it might be."

A quick step forward and Seraph was right in front of Desiree, looking up at her taller sibling. Her teeth were clenched and voice was forceful. "Despite how powerful you _think _you are, Rae, just remember who remained a soldier, while the other became the General."

And Desiree couldn't help but smirk. She had definitely struck a nerve in her baby sister.

But Seraph took a deep breath that would remind anyone of Desiree, should they be familiar enough with the older angelic girl, and then said, "Look, what is it you want of me? You got me here, you had me feel this concerning evil, now what?"

"Now what?" Desiree's turn to have just the right nerve stricken. "Something needs to be done about this. We haven't seen evil like this in well over one thousand years. And even then, that wasn't to this level. That thing was a true demon, Sera. I'm surprised Jade and I even survived. Especially Jade, she's progressing far beyond what I originally felt from her. "

"Alright. So we kill Jade and hunt down the other."

"What? No!" Desiree exclaimed. "We're not killing Jade."

And Seraph scoffed, twisting her lips into a devilish smirk. "Pretending to be your younger self seems to have also brought with it your naivety." She began to circle around Desiree, looking the girl up and down as she took a good look at her artificially young body. "You used to be so weak and rebellious of our ways. Don't tell me that sad little girl is returning? However, I do prefer this fiery red you've got sprouting from your head. Much better than the silver."

"It's not weakness I show. It's devotion to our beliefs."

"To our beliefs?" Seraph laughed. "These are demons! We are their opposite. Tell me, how long have we been on this earth?"

"Too long."

"Yes, and what was our purpose from the very beginning?" Seraph's questioning speech had quickly began sounding like that of a leader about to lead his men into battle. "What is the sole reason for our existence?"

Desiree simply eyed her sister, and her tone was low. "We can't possibly know our true purpose for sure."

"No, but unlike humans, we _feel_ what we're meant to do, it's instinct, you can't deny that. And what has that destiny _always _been, from the very beginning? What is that urge that each of us are never without?"

Desiree gulped. "To eradicate any and all evil."

"And what lies within Jade West is pure evil."

"But there's more than that," Desiree said. "She's a girl. She's not just a monster, she's also human. And not only that, but she's a human that has chosen the same path as us, sister. Surely the amount of darkness she has slain earns her at least our hesitation."

"Let's just say I humor your little soft spot for this girl. What is it exactly that you propose we do then? If not kill her, then what? You make her out to be some great hero, but you know what she really is, and you've seen for yourself the potential within her. Another monster of this magnitude cannot be allowed to roam free."

Desiree stood her ground and said with assuredness, "We shield her."

"What do you mean?"

"Yes, I've seen the darkness in her." The currently redheaded girl paused and took a thought filled breath. "But I've also seen the opposite. This is a tug of war. It may seem like the demon is winning, but there's another side to her, and the things she surrounds herself with are the only things that can determine which way she goes."

"Tori Vega," Seraph clarified.

"Yes, and Cat Valentine. You need to assure Cat's safety."

Seraph's arms came to a fold again, and she finally came to another stop, once more in front of Desiree. "Look, Rae, these delusions of yours will only get you so far, even with blood. Cat is an unstable girl, her fate is determined by chaos. I can feel that, and you can feel that. There is no safety for that girl."

"Hire her," Desiree said. "Put her on a team or something. Leave her in the hands of people that can at least put up a fight in her defense. Beck, or Bex, was here today for her life. If Cat's life _had _been taken, I fear the demon would have pulled Jade dangerously close to it's territory, possibly engulfing her altogether."

A slight back tilt of her head and Seraph's eyes gave a bit of a squint. She groaned and reached a hand back to rub at the top of her neck. Her eyes locked with Desiree's and she saw the slight worry in them. "It's nothing," she said. "Anything to do with Cat just gives me a headache."

Desiree gave a slight laugh, but still her face retained its worry. Her sister was not usually one for jokes.

"Why have you not questioned the reasoning behind Bex's actions?" she asked after a moment.

"It's a demon. To question its motives would be madness."

"You have a point, I suppose," she admitted. "But will you do it? At least for a while, will you try it my way?" But Seraph remained quiet, contemplative, and Desiree chose to try and speed her decision along. "I've watched Jade from birth, Sera. Ever since we sensed what she was. I know her. I came to her a few months ago, when something sparked its awakening, to do one thing; to protect her from herself. Let me do my duty. Help me prevent this evil from being birthed, while saving a girl in the process."

Seraph's hand went back up to the back of her head before she could respond, this time scratching at it. "Fine. But don't come crying to me when she wreaks of sulfur."

"Really?" Desiree laughed at yet another uncharacteristic joke made by her sister, and Seraph rolled her eyes. "Was that an attempt at a joke?"

"Don't test my patience right now, Rae."

"Fine, whatever. I'm sorry," Desiree said.

Seraph studied her taller sibling, questioning her before the words even came out of her mouth. "Tell me, though. Why do you choose to remain in this form? Why not show Jade who and what you really are? You only did it so that the girl wouldn't find herself suspicious of why one of the highest ranking members of the Angel Barracks order would be watching over her so closely. Now she would understand why, and by logical standards, should accept and welcome your presence."

"Logical standards?" Desiree scoffed. "This is why I work the field, and you push papers behind a desk, _General._ Humans are not driven by logic, they're driven by emotion."

"Your point?"

"My point? You know Jade. How do you think she'll react to learning someone has been lying to her face this whole time, huh? How do you think she'll react to learning I'm much more than just a harmless observer? She'll see me as a spy, a spy that was sent here because of what she is. And all that will do is finally drive her to believe she truly is a monster. We can't have that, Sera."

Seraph nodded slowly and locked her serious gaze onto Desiree's. A faint smirk, relatively nonexistent, formed on her lips. "All the more reason to end her existence and be done with it."

"Sera," Desiree said with disappointment and slight surprise at the joy filled expression on her sisters face. And after long sigh, she made the decision to hurry her sister away before she changed her mind, and before the notion of killing Jade could become more than something the silver haired girl would joke about. "I guess you should go then. You know, before the girls discover you with the likes of me."

Seraph made an "ick" sort of noise, before saying, "Wouldn't want that."

And then Desiree was the one rolling her eyes.

But just as the light sprouted from her back and took a somewhat visible form in the shape of wings, Seraph added one last word. "Whore," she called down as the wings pulled her quickly into the air.

"Syrup!" Desiree yelled back, even at the risk of Jade or Tori hearing her. Besides, even if they managed to be awake and hear the strange word come from her mouth, it would be quite the amusing story to make up to cover her tracks. And that just seemed like something she would look forward to. After all, after a couple thousand years spent in this world, making her the oldest known 'angel', she discovered the little things in life to be the most pleasurable.

* * *

**Note:** _Again, sorry for its shortness. I've already written over half of the next chapter and it's already longer than this one, so it will definitely be a whole lot longer. This was actually going to be a part of it, but I felt that it stood better as its own chapter._

_Thanks for the patience guys!_


End file.
